Step
by Enchantable
Summary: Sequel to Shuffle. When Ichigo lands himself in a lot of trouble, its up to his friends to find a way to save him. Unfortunately that means they're going to have to find a way to get to Soul Society and convince them to give their powers back.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so I decided to do a sequel. the ending of the first fic was always supposed to be a bittersweet kind of hopeful story, ending not in a definitive way. But it was supposed to be short. So here's the continuation! **

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"You will never save him."

Urahara frowned, his hands hesitating from where they were buried in the damaged arm of Ulquiorra's gigai. He raised his eyebrows to see the former Espada sitting nearby, one hand cupping his chin. A year ago, Urahara would never have believed the scene was even possible. A year ago, he would have thought that the sight of an Arancar in his lab would have sent him rushing for Benihime. Now the sight of Ulquiorra sitting there merely meant that he had survived another fight and that, for all purposes, he had come home. Usually when he did though, whatever dying words the Hollow had said would have meant nothing. Now though he was clearly troubled by the final words of the dying creature, troubled enough to let the concern show on his face.

"I wouldn't dwell on it," Urahara advised, grabbing one of the tools and rotating a mechanism inside the gigai, "the Hollow was most likely simply trying to get to you past his death," he raised his eyes with a grin, "it seems to have worked."

The glare he was rewarded with only served to widen his smile. The slightly more emotional side of Ulquiorra was something Urahara was certain would never cease to amuse him. Of course the one most prone to his displays of emotion was Orihime, something Urahara found unfair considering the young woman had the uncanny ability to read Ulquiorra with the ease of an open book. Unfortunately Ulquiorra was more than capable of reading people as well and clearly he had sensed some sort of truth in the Hollow's words. Enough truth that it would trouble him to the point it would show on his features. That meant nothing good, especially not when he thought of the only person in the world the Hollow could be referring to:

Ichigo Kurosaki.

The orange haired man vanished without a trace six months earlier. gone to find peace, Rukia or some combination of the two. They had let him disappear, though Urahara did have serious reservations about it. But it had felt necessary. The young man had never truly recovered from the war, to the point where he was forever torturing himself with the past. He needed to move on. But, most importantly, he needed to let go. Unfortunately the fact of the matter was that even without his full powers, Ichigo Kurosaki was a source of great interest for both the good and the bad forces that existed in the world. Urahara had thought the boy could take care of himself, he had seen Ichigo pull off the impossible time and time again. But if he had not, if something had captured him, then they could be in very big trouble. Especially if that something had anything to do with Aizen.

"Perhaps I am overreacting," Ulquiorra said, the barest edge of disgust in his tone. As if the idea of him overreacting was somehow grotesque, "but if there is a bit of truth to its words, Soul Society must know."

"And you think I have a way of contacting them," Urahara said. Ulquiorra nodded, "well, I am sorry to disappoint you but I don't. I'm afraid I'm as cut off as the rest of you."

Ulquiorra looked at him sharply, not believing that for a second.

Urahara was too smart and, in later days, too paranoid not to have some way of contacting Soul Society. The idea that he had simply closed all ties was possibly the most ridiculous thing Ulquiorra had heard in some time. He had a way of contacting Soul Society, he simply did not want to share it. Knowing that prying would do nothing for him, Ulquiorra instead straitened up and slid to his feet. Walking forward to where Urahara stood, he looked over at the prone form in between the two of them.

The sight of his human form was one he was certain he would never truly become accustom to. As he had told Orihime, he had been very young when he had died. Young enough that the body of a heathy teenaged human was something he had once dreamed about--something he and his family had prayed for. It was strange that it had happened, even if it had been a very long time after the fact. Still, looking down at the prone body, he found himself slightly offput by the sight of it. The last Hollow had damaged his arm severely when he had hesitated after it had uttered those words. Urahara removed whatever tools he was using and grabbed the tools to fix the skin. There would a fine line in the body, passible for a scar. Ulquiorra's own high speed regeneration had taken care of the mark on his true form, thankfully the internal damage was non-existant.

"Done," Urahara said stepping back, "now shall I send a message over to Orihime and Uryuu--"

"No," Ulquiorra cut him off, knowing full well what kind of messages Urahara liked to send.

"Well then, I suppose you'd better be on your way," he said.

Ulquiorra nodded and quickly got into the gigai. It took a very short amount of time to do so, but still he waited a moment to make sure he was adjusted. A year of constantly getting in and out of the gigai had broken the doll-like apparatus in, to the point where it was actually quite comfortable. But still a few times of passing out and a few falls had taught Ulquiorra to be careful when it came to his cover. He had limitations, as a Hollow living in the transient world. Limitations that he had to deal with to maintain his ability to live where he wished. Still within ten minutes he was walking out of the door, shrugging a light jacket on against the chill in the night air. It was still warm out but his body felt cool.

He made his way through the quiet of Karakura Town. It was a sleepy place, even at eleven at night. As he walked past the more populated districts, as the houses began to spread out, he found the small apartment that Orihime Inoue still called home. Two people lived in the building, she on the top floor. He walked up to the stoop, his eyes moving to the buzzer. His gaze slid from the buzzer to the two plants. Acting on a suspicion he moved aside a few of the smaller stones surrounding the plant to reveal a large stone buried underneath the thin camouflage. Picking up the unusually light stone, he slid the two parts apart to reveal the key hidden inside.

Stone in hand he turned and walked back to the buzzer, pressing the button beside her name.

High above him, hair still wet from the shower, Orihime turned at the buzzer. Instantly a smile came to her lips. There was only one person who would be buzzing her so late. Quickly she walked over to the intercom and pressed the button that would let him in. Turning the lock on the door she hurried back to the bathroom and quickly combed out the tangles in her hair. She heard the door open and the methodic footsteps come into her apartment. Setting down her comb she came out of the bathroom to be greeted with the sight she already knew she would find.

"Ulquiorra," Orihime stood in the doorway, smiling at him.

Ulquiorra looked at the sight of her. Her hair was still wet from the shower, staining the straps of the light pink tank top she had on. It was eleven so the fact her bottom half was clad in a pair of pajama pants was understandable. The bats on them, however, were not. She walked quickly from the bathroom over to where he was standing. Before he could remind her that she was to hide her spare key in another place, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his. Ulquiorra found his reaction to be instantaneous as he kissed her back, the hand not holding the rock wrapping around her waist. He could smell the floral on her from where she had just applied perfume, the scent as light and playful as the woman in his arms.

"Hi," she said breathlessly looking up at him.

"Hello," he replied, looking down at her shining eyes.

Six months and Ulquiorra still would not have been able to properly define what the woman in his arms meant. He had not known, what seemed so long ago, what she would one day come to mean to him. He only knew now, that if someone tried to take her, he too would have gone to hell and back to see her safely home. He still could not say what made it so, still did not understand why when she smiled at him he felt as though the world was not as dark a place as it had been the moment before. Some days it was actually quite sickening how easily she could make the world seem like a hopeful place.

"Its late," she said, "is something wrong?"

For a second Ulquiorra actually considered not telling her. Considered letting it stay with him until the next day. But he knew that he could not. She needed to know what was going on, she needed to know that the man she had once been in love with might be in trouble and there was a good chance they were going to have to find a way to save him. The thought made his stomach roll. Both the fact that he was most likely going to have to contribute to saving Ichigo Kurosaki and the fact that Orihime Inoue had once been in love with him. While he had no doubt that she loved him now, he still was not anxious to have the orange haired idiot back in the picture.

"Yes," he said finally.

"Is it about that rock?" she asked looking at the object in his hand, "I told you Ulquiorra, no-one knows its there but you, me, Sado, Tatsuki and Uryuu!"

"It is easy to find," he said.

"Yes!" she cried picking it up from his hand, "because you keep digging it up!"

There were certain things about the human world in the modern era that Orihime was certain Ulquiorra was never going to understand. Things like hiding a spare key in a place where you had a chance of finding it was one of them. Not every person in the world was a trained warrior who was capable of finding things that would be used to their advantage in a fight. Most people looking to get into her apartment wouldn't dig up _that_ plant and find the rock he held in his hand and know that it was the key to her apartment.

She understood Ulquiorra's paranoid moments. She knew his training was to jump to the worst conclusion, to do what no-one else wanted to. Unfortunately that meant that he still immediately jumped to the worst conclusion about people around him. Orihime had a feeling that he would always, on some fundamental level, be a pessimist. But at least he did not think everyone on the street had the capability to commit murder anymore. Or at least that they would not commit murder as easily as they did their everyday tasks. She also knew that Ulquiorra would deny it if she called him paranoid or, worse, overprotective of her.

"You need to find a better hiding place," he told her bluntly.

"Alright," she said with a sigh, reaching out and picking up the rock, setting it down on her counter, "I will find a better place for the rock--for the key in the rock," she crossed her arms, "why are you really here?"

It was an effect of dating someone who was so blunt that Orihime had picked up on it herself. While her tact was better than that of her significant other, she was still far more blunt than she had been in the past. Now, instead of letting Ulquiorra voice what was happening in his own time, she crossed her arms and fixed him with a stare that he could not avoid. He returned her gaze, his hands loosely tucking into the pockets of his jacket in a pose that Orihime had come to understand was his default one.

"I killed a Hollow," he said. Orihime nodded, knowing that was nothing new, "he said something to me."

"What did he say?" Orihime asked, nervousness fluttering in her stomach.

Hollow had called Ulquiorra all sort of things. Traitor was the most common but they had been worse than that. Even though the truth of the matter was that even if he was still loyal to Aizen or even if he was still acting as a Hollow should he would be killing and eating them. But they still hurled accusations at him, using their dying breath to swear at the thing that had killed them. The person that never would have shown them any sort of mercy anyway. Usually Ulquiorra said nothing of it, if she heard about it she heard it from Uryuu. But if Ulquiorra was at her house so late, it must have been really bad. Orihime pushed herself away from the counter she was leaning on, the nervousness morphing into worry.

"It told me that 'you will never save him'," Ulquiorra said.

Orihime's eyes widened, her mind immediately going to the only person it could be. Maybe it was another Espada, another Hollow, another Shinigami. But deep inside she knew who it was. She knew it had to be Ichigo Kurosaki.

But it seemed impossible that it could be him. He had been gone for six months, gone to find himself or Rukia or maybe some combination of the two. She had let him go, they all had, all understanding that Ichigo needed to find some kind of peace in the wake of all the destruction that had happened. But six months of nothing, of silence, and suddenly _this_? It was unfathomable. She had always felt when Ichigo was in trouble, just like he always knew when she was. She knew her powers were gone, his were too. But the idea she wouldn't even know that he was in trouble, it was a horrible thought. One that had her pressing her hand to her mouth, trying to keep the stinging from her eyes.

"He's in trouble," she said raising her head.

"I believe so," Ulquiorra said, "Urahara claims not to have a way to contact Soul Society but I do not believe him."

"No, no he'd have a way," she said lowering her hand, "did it say anything else?"

"No," Ulquiorra said, "it disintegrated shortly after that."

Orihime nodded, not saying anything. Over and over in her mind, the words ran though. She could even hear the voice of the Hollow, that distorted screech. She knew that it could have thrown the words at Ulquiorra to try and get to him, maybe to just throw him off. Bravely she looked up at him.

"Maybe it just said that to get to you," she said, her voice trying to be light.

"No," Ulquiorra rejected her claim shortly, "it was not. If he truly is in trouble, Soul Society must know."

"Why?" Orihime demanded, her eyes narrowing, "after what they did, why should we trust them at all? Why would they _care_ at all?!"

Ulquiorra looked at her carefully, hearing the rise of her voice. He knew she did not want to have anything to do with Soul Society. He could not blame her. He did not really want to have anything to do with the. But he knew it was nothing but stupidity that would make a person think they could handle whatever was coming. Something was coming. Something that had taken Ichigo Kurosaki. Whatever they had done to him to remove his powers, Ulquiorra had no doubt that whoever had him now would find a way to undo. Ichigo Kurosaki had brought the world to its knees, even for the briefest of moments. If those that had him now found a way to unlock that, there was nothing to prevent them from accomplishing that again.

"They will care," he said, "whatever took him will come for them, eventually. They will care about that, even if they do not care about anything else."

"Anyone else," Orihime said crossing her arms around herself.

She hated the fact that he was right, that they were going to need to call on the very people that had turned their backs on them a year ago. She hated the fact they were going to have to run to them, almost as much as she hated the idea that Ichigo had been taken and she hadn't known. He had come to her aide so quickly, almost before she realized that he would. And yet she had no idea when he had been taken. There were a hundred logical reasons as to why, the circumstances were impossibly different. But somehow none of that comforted her. Ichigo Kurosaki, the first boy she had ever loved, was in trouble and she had not known. Miserably she raised her eyes to see Ulquiorra standing there, watching her carefully. He didn't like this anymore than she did, she knew that, but he was still willing to do whatever it took to make sure that what had happened before did not again. It was noble, noble and brave and Orihime wished that she could keep that in mind rather than her desire to get her hairpins back so she could use Tsubaki on everyone.

"I should change," she said finally, "we need to go tell the others. They'll want to know."

Ulquiorra nodded as she disappeared into the other room of the apartment to change. Suddenly Ulquiorra wished that he had listened to his instincts and let her hand one more night where she did not have to think about Soul Society and Ichigo Kurosaki who, though he may have been the first boy she ever loved, had also been the first boy who ever broke her heart.

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**Please review! You guys (and gals) were awesome with reviewing the last story! I say we try that again! **

**You review, I'll write! Well, you'll kinda write too, with reviews. But I'll write the story!**

**So review!  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so Urahara's part gets a bit twisted. **

**Just a warning.**

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"Trouble? What, exactly, do you mean that Ichigo's in trouble? What kind of trouble are we talking? Normal 'oh shit i've been kidnapped' trouble or your kind of 'oh shit the world's gonna be taken over' trouble?"

Ulquiorra looked at the blunt tomboy in front of him. She glared up at him, arms crossed. Orihime had gone to give the news to Uryuu so Ulquiorra had taken the task of informing Tatsuki what was happening. A night owl, Tatsuki was completely awake when he went to her, sitting on her window seat with a book in her lap. The only indication of the late hour was the fact she was wearing pajama bottoms and a tank top. She showed no embarrassment at the fact that Ulquiorra was seeing her in something pink and completely girlish. She was actually taking the news much better than he thought she would. Ulquiorra had gone there completely expecting to find a desk coming for his head.

"The latter," he said, "and we need to enlist Soul Society if we are to get him back before whatever forces have taken him use him."

"Okay first off, why the _fuck_ would you get Soul Society involved?" Tatsuki demanded, "didn't they steal everyone else's powers and strand you at the Urahara Shop? And secondly, how the hell are people going to use him? Isn't he powerless?"

Ulquiorra let out a breath. Tatsuki crossed her arms and glared at him, waiting for an explanation. She knew she wouldn't understand some of the finer points of whatever he was going to say, but she had every confidence that he would explain it to her. He owed her anyway. If she had managed to make it clear to him why people no longer used fountain pens or inkstones and brushes,he could explain to her why the hell people would want to use Ichigo to take over the world. Ulquiorra shifted slightly, something that to a normal person would be unnoticeable, but to her it was instantly noticeable and a sure red flag that he was agitated. She frowned, slightly confused as to why Ulquiorra would be agitated about what was going on.

"Kurosaki is a viable threat no matter how powerless he currently finds himself. There are ways to restore lost power. Whoever kidnapped him was powerful enough to execute that, it is not unfathomable that they would have access to the tools and the power they would need to restore him to his former power."

"Well, fine," she said, "but Ichigo's not exactly the type to switch sides. Sure he blurred lines once or twice but outright switch? He ain't the type."

"No," Ulquiorra agreed, "he is not. However--"

"Let me guess," she said, "they got some freaky Hollow-thing that's gonna drive him crazy or break him to the point where he'll do whatever the fuck he says," she said. Ulquiorra nodded, "damn it, that's not good."

"No," Ulquiorra said, "it is not. We must take preventative measures to ensure that we end this before it escalates into another war."

"Yeah. Because God forbid Ichigo Kurosaki gets us all get us stuck in another crazy war," Tatsuki said throwing up her hands.

Ulquiorra inwardly groaned. This was why he had wanted to tell Uryuu. Because when Tatsuki got worried or upset, her instinct was to go to the emotion she considered the strongest and most comforting: anger. Looking at her now, anger was the only thing on her face. she was angry at Ichigo, angry that he had gotten himself in trouble. Not to mention that there were a multitude of other treasons she was furious at the young man. This was simply the clearest in her mind. However, Ulquiorra could not bring her into this if she was going to respond so immaturely. He knew that however hard ineracting with Soul Society would be for him, it would be a thousand times harder for the others. He did not like Soul Society, but he never had. He had never trusted them, been betrayed by them, never had his world torn apart by them. At least, not in a direct way.

"If you wish to be any help," Ulquiorra said, "you must focus on the greater good, not on your individual pain," Tatsuki opened her mouth, "your anger at Kurosaki, while understandable, is useless and counterproductive."

"I know. Okay? I know. I just want him to be--"

"In an inordinate amount of pain," he finished, "a feeling shared by many. Unfortunately we need to ensure that there is a world to fight in. From now until this is resolved, Kurosaki's safety needs to be a priority."

Tatsuki snorted and crossed her arms. The thought that one day Ulquiorra Schiffer would be telling her that they needed to save Ichigo Kurosaki for the safety of the world had never crossed her mind. But here they were, in that exact position. A part of Tatsuki was grateful that they had told her. She didn't know what she would do if she was once again left out of the loop--abandoned once more by the people she had thought of as friends. Still she did not like the idea that they were going to have to do, well, to do anything to try and save the man who had abandoned them. Even more than that, she didn't like the idea that Ichigo had been taken hostage at al. For all his egg-headedness he had always seemed to be capable of getting out of the large amounts of trouble that he created. But not this time, this time he had been captured.

"So what happens now?" she asked, "do we go to Urahara's?"

"Yes," Ulquiorra said, "but not right now," he added quickly stopping her as she went for the door, "Urahara must be left alone for the time being."

Tatsuki nodded, crossing her arms under her breasts as she looked out the window at the deceptively peaceful world. She had known last time when something was going on, even if she had not known exactly what it was. Now she did, but somehow that did not make her feel any better. Ulquiorra said nothing as he stood next to her, both silent for a moment before Tatsuki turned to him.

"Don't you have some freaky Hollow-way to get into Soul Society?" she demanded.

"No," Ulquiorra said, "though it would be far easier if I did. Unfortunately I am only able to access Hueco Mundo."

"Hueco Mundo," Tatsuki said, "that's your _slightly_ more freaky version of Soul Society right?"

"Only slightly," Ulquiorra said dryly.

"So, where's Orihime?"

Across the street, Uryuu sighed and pushed his glasses up. He had assumed that something like this would have happened, eventually. Ichigo Kurosaki was many thing but being immune to being kidnapped was not one of them. Unfortunately he was rather good at pulling off the impossible. The idea that there was a way for Ichigo to regain his powers, that it would be done by someone else, that idea was not one he was particularly happy about. But it was a fathomable one. He had seen far more insane things happen--he had been a part of far more insane things happening. But he did not like the idea that his friend was going to be put in such a position was not one he did not like.

He turned his head and looked at Orihime. Worry was bring in her grey eyes. Even if she had come to terms with ichgio's need to go and find his own peace, she was still worried about him. It was understandable. How many times had they been in trouble and Ichigo had come running to save them. Or a mutual friend had been in trouble and they had gone with him to save them. They had saved each other so many times Uryuu had lost count. Even if they were not happy with the man that Ichgio had become, he was still their friend. They were still going to go and save him, no matter what it took to do that. Especially if it meant they had to involve Soul Society. Even without his powers, Ichigo was unusually strong. If his captors found a way to restore his powers and to break him, then they were going to have a very big problem on their hands.

"I see," Uryuu said finally, "has Urahara found a way to get into Soul Society yet?"

"Not yet," Orihime said, "Ulquiorra said he claimed he didn't have one but," she picked at the edge of her shirt, "I don't believe him anymore than Ulquiorra does."

"Nor I," Uryuu said, "but his reluctance to deal with them is more than understandable given the circumstances."

"Right," Orihime said, trying to smile.

She was worried about Ichigo, terrified really. It had not even been an hour since she had been told and yet the fact that all she had done was tell Uryuu seemed like nothing. It was irrational, she knew, and yet to her mind it was as though if Ichigo had been in her shoes he would have already been halfway to saving whoever needed to be saved. But all she could do was tell her friend and wait for Urahara to find a way to get them to Soul Society--a way he claimed not to have. She knew that he was going to let them go to Soul Society eventually, she just had no idea how or when that would be. He understood the urgency of the situation but it was not as simple as she wished it could have been.

"So all that we can do is wait for Urahara to open a Gate," Uryuu said looking at Orihime.

"I wish there was more we could do," she said looking down, "the waiting is the worst part."

"Not entirely," Uryuu said, "and however terrible the waiting for us is, it is nothing compared to what Urahara is going through right now."

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Back at his lab, Urahara was not feeling much of anything at the moment.

A fact that was largely due to the bottle next to him.

Sitting in the healing pool in the underground facility, Urahara exhaled and leaned his head back. The water that came up to his chest was warm enough that he knew staying in it for a long period of time was not a good idea. However, that was not something he was overly concerned with at the moment. The rest of the strange family he called his own was asleep upstairs, something he had planned for. He needed time to relax, time to let his mind wander and it was not something he could do with the people he lived with. The idea of being so guarded, it was not one he relished, especially not with people he had once shared every facet of his being with. But it was a necessary facade.

One that didn't work half the time from the sidelong glances they gave him. He knew they were expecting him to break down. they were waiting for him to freak out or to finally snap. The first few days after the Winter War, all the sharp utensils in the house had gone missing along with any milk-based products and, oddly enough, anything purple. Over the next month they slowly made their reappearance but anytime he went for any of them someone was there watching him. Watching him as though they expected him to hurt himself. To go insane. Slowly the looks had abated. Especially when Ulquiorra had come and there was suddenly a real and viable threat living in the basement. But they had slowly been returning, more and more as the anniversary of that day came closer.

Not the day that Yoruichi had died. No, it was close to summer now. No, this was an entirely different day. An entirely more bittersweet day. An occasion that had meant a variety of things to him over the years. Long absences, her leaving time and again. It didn't matter. This day had always meant something to them, though there were years when they spent it apart. Years when they had looked at it with disgust or dislike. Years when they had looked at it with the fondness that they should have. This was one of the years when he knew that day would be a bitter one, one that required a lot of alcohol to get through. But it would come and he was certain that all the sharp instruments in the house would be gone on that day. The rest of the shop knew it too, they had seen the way that the day affected him. And with good reason when one considered what it was like to be with a woman like Yoruichi.

To be _married_ to a woman like Yoruichi Shihon.

Because in a few short minutes the clock would strike midnight and it would official be the day that Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihon had married.

It would be his wedding anniversary.

With a shake of his head, Urahara picked up the glass next to him. it was not a fact that either of them had felt the need to advertise. The name Shihon meant enough that she had kept it and he had kept his. He knew she had slept with other men and he had his own nights with the occasional stranger. But under every touch, every kiss, even to other people, there was an underlying claim. Bodies were one thing but both had known beyond a doubt that their hearts were taken by the other. He still did not know why they had gotten married. it had been shortly after their exile, his involuntary, hers willing and somehow the fact that they were family had come up in conversation. Somehow the talk of how they should be a legal family, considering what had happened, had occurred and before either had been entirely sure what happened they found themselves exchanging vows.

She had not worn a wedding dress anymore than he had worn a tuxedo and he still wasn't entirely sure as to why they had felt the need to get married. But they had and that day had come to mean something neither had been prepared for. Truly when he thought of their entire time together, he did not think that he had once told her that he loved her. Nor she him. But they had loved each other, in their own strangely damaged way they had loved each other. Probably more than he thought he would love another person for as incredibly long as he was sure to was strange to look back and think that they had never truly told the other how they felt. Even before they had gone off to a war neither was sure they would survive, they hadn't said anything to each other.

But he knew.

And she knew as well.

Odd really, to be sure of something that head never really heard. But he was sure of it. More importantly, he knew that _she _had been sure of it. That was the thing. Because he was still there, still here somehow, and he had all the time in the world to torture himself over words unsaid and what could have been. The fact she had known was a small comfort. A small one but there were some days when it was all that kept him grounded. He had to smile at that. The idea that someone as Noble and brilliant as Yoruichi Shihon had chosen to save his sorry ass and then follow him to hell and back. She'd deny it to the death but they both knew that she could have fought Aizen a hundred different ways. She probably could have done more in soul Society. But instead she had gone with him and Urahara was sure no matter how long he lived, a part of him would always feel the surprise he had when he felt her fist grab the front of his robes as she saved his life once more.

"Moping, again?"

Urahara craned his neck backwards, though he hardly needed visual confirmation to the owner of the voice. Sure enough she was there, as heartbreakingly beautiful as she had been the last time he saw her. The dress she wore this time was of a dusky gold, fabric sheer enough to offer a teasing glimpse of the skin it concealed. Her hair was the same odd cut, half long, half short, falling across her face enough to make her eyes even more alluring than they already were. She had done something to them as well. Despite the bitterness and obviously aided by the alcohol, Urahara found himself unable to take his eyes off her. She walked forward, the sway of her hips as natural as the quiet authority she projected. He didn't bother to ask how she managed to get in without him knowing. She walked forward, bending down to pick up the bottle.

"I fail to see the point in this," she said turning it over in her hand before she lifted it up to her lips.

Even with him upside down she pressed her lips against his, opening his mouth with her own and pouring the liquor down his throat. It burned in his mouth, burned as it slid down his throat and pooled like fire in his stomach. It betrayed the softness of the lips on his, though she made no move to deepen the kiss--or to start kissing him at all really. He could taste the lipstick she used, that odd, chemical taste that was not meant to be pleasing, simply alluring. One of her hands reached out and touched the bottom of his lip, wiping the remnants of the liquor that had spilled from their lips away.

His hand streaked out and caught her wrist. Drunk, he was still capable of grabbing her wrist and turning himself around. Fire flared in her eyes, as if he had caused her some great insult but his grip was firm as he looked at her from his lower vantage point. He did not know what she had used on her lips but even after what she had done they remained the same perfect red that they had been when she first came into the room. The perfect color of freshly spilled blood. She continued to look at him, her eyes boring into his.

"Thats enough," he told her, "I'm not in the mood for your games."

"Darling," she sighed twisting her wrist before pinning his on either side of the pool, her grip vice-tight, "your mood means nothing to me."

He jerked his wrist but she pinned his wrists. Pain flared in his hands. He glanced down to see her pinky fingers hand moved, the nails of her hand plunging through the skin of his hands, locking his palms in place. Under the water he felt his muscles clench in agony. It did not seem to matter that truthfully it had not happened. His hands were not pinned, his lips not kissed. She would not risk damaging him for real, not when there was a chance that a true fight would go on. Unfortunately the pain still flared through him. Equally unfortunate was the warmth that pooled low in his stomach. She knew as well. The blood red of her lips curved into a smile.

"Oh Kisuke," she bent her head. Her hair lengthened, and darkened, ebony shot through with fire brushing the side of his face and hiding the world from his view, "Now is the time to fight. Perhaps this way you will not get everyone killed, you fool," she whispered as the pain in his hands vanished, leaving them complete and whole as her lips pressed to his ear, "that is what you are. A broken, twisted fool."

Urahara kept his eyes ahead as her words slid like barbed velvet along his skin. He was immobile, though he wished to God it was not the case. Her breath was warm against his skin, fire coursing along when she spoke and ice following in its absence. Her perfume was overwhelming. Decadent, sinful, it only made it harder to focus on anything but the alternate sensations she took him through. He hated how his body reacted, hated how even when his mind knew it was not real the rest of him had no idea.

"You could have saved them," she whispered along his skin, "so many lost to your fear, your shame. Your wife," she paused, letting the word sink in, "your child," she nipped the skin of his ear, "your creations. All gone because of your cowardice," she moved back, her ruby eyes locking with his, "you deserve this hell, Kisuke, you always have."

"I do," Urahara agreed as his lips curved into a vicious smile, "but as you are a part of me, you do as well."

Her eyes narrowed angrily at the terrible truth in her words. She was a part of him. As such, his condemnation to hell was hers as well. Although, he had to admit it seemed as though hell suited her. Though while her evil was outright, worn proudly as though it was some sort of badge of honor, he did his best to conceal his. It was a fact that made sense.

Made a lot of sense when one considered that she was a reflection of his Soul.

Benihime smiled down at him, sin and pleasure wrapped in a terribly beautiful package. Urahara looked up at her, unable to look away. It was what he had wanted after all, to drown. Not to forget, he did not have the right to forget. All he wanted was to drown, be it in pain, pleasure or some macabre combination of the two. It was what he asked for, it was what he deserved and in a far sicker way, it was what he needed. A broken soul caught in the embrace of its own reflection.

"End this, Kisuke," she whispered along his skin, "bring them to their knees."

He knew he never would. His soul cried for it, begged for it and yet he knew that his hands would not be the ones to destroy the place he had once called him. Not anymore than they had anyway.

"Return," he told her instead, "Benihime."

Still nude, he pushed himself up from the pool, adrenaline overriding the fog in his mind. His skin burned in the colder air as he reached down and picked up the pair of pants laying nearby. Pulling them on he picked up the bottle of liquor sitting nearby and walked past the pool to the deeper parts of his underground facility. The cane and the blade it concealed lay forgotten behind him as he made his way to the darker recesses. Finally he found what he was looking for. Reaching up he grabbed the edge of the covering and pulled it back to reveal to reveal the Gate capable of converting people into Spirits. Decrepit and broken, it stood like a memorial to a long forgotten time. It had been blown out in the battle, like most of his equipment. Destroyed by the fallout of such a massive amount of Spiritual Power. He hadn't seen fit to repair the Gate, figuring there wouldn't be a need for it.

Also it violated his agreement with Soul Society.

Urahara had struck a deal with them, ironically enough, to save the two things he had once not considered important: memory and an Arrancar. Soul Society had been prepared to make the people forget everything, people including Ichigo, Orihime, Sado and Uryuu. They had also been more than prepared to simply lock Ulquiorra in the 12th Division for the rest of his life. But Urahara had managed to convince them to give him the Arrancar and to let people keep their memories. In return he had to close every avenue of communication he had. Including not repairing the Gate. He smirked as he looked up at the Gate before his eyes went to his healed hand. No marks, no nothing. It had all been in his head. With a snort he shook his head and walked forward.

It was going to take him all night to repair the damn thing in his current state.

Turning around he walked back to the pool and picked up the cane concealing Benihime. Striding back to the Gate and set the bottle down on the ground. Sitting down he settled himself on the ground, holding the blade in his lap. Slowly he drew her, the sword whispering against her scabbard as he pulled her free. Holding the blade in one hand he moved his other forward until the sword was laying flat in his palms. He knew she would do nothing without an offering and for what he was going to ask, she was going to need more than what he had previously offered. Closing his eyes and steeling himself against the pain, he slowly rotated his hands until the blade was laying against his palms, the sharp edge laying on his skin. With an unusual amount of ceremony he curled his fingers around the blade and squeezed his hands. The pressure slowly forced the sword into his skin, blood painting the silver of the blade. Urahara kept his eyes closed, his brow furrowing as he forced the blade deeper into his skin.

Some invisible point was reached, an unheard bargain struck up.

"Sing," he whispered, slowly opening his eyes.

This time she stood in front of him, existing as a spectral form created by the droplets of his blood. She was still heartbreakingly beautiful, still dangerous, still deadly. He locked his eyes with hers, their gazes holding. She gave him a small smile, the kind one would give to a person they were about to challenge. Urahara found himself returning the gesture, his hot blood flowing down the gashes in his palms as he held the blade. She vanished as the droplets collapsed into a shapeless mass, blending together to form a mist. The red mist soared to the Gate, flowing across the form. Urahara closed his eyes, allowing his mind to drift. His mind was drawn to the Gate as the mist of his blood began to seep into all the cracks, all the damage. it was just a matter of channeling and exerting his Spiritual Power now to repair them, something he had done many times before. Taking a deep breath, Urahara focused on the problem at hand.

Slowly they began to repair the Gate.

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**So I always thought of Urahara's Zanpakuto as being seriously twisted, just as I always saw Urahara as a darker sort of character. Also in this scenario I also wanted there to be another facet with the repairing of the Gate. Some of his inventions are seriously complex so I thought it would be interesting if he and Benihime were able to almost _become_ the inventions. **

**Anyway Please review! You all are being totally awesome with the reviews! Keep 'em coming. I promise this is gonna be an adventure fic where the characters are seriously gonna be pushed to the limit. **

**Please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

"You wish to go to rescue another one of your _Shinigami_ friends---again?"

Biting back a curse at the blatant disgust in his father's voice, Uryuu instead settled for a curt not of confirmation. Across the table, Ryuuken Ishida pushed his glasses up a bit higher on the bridge of his nose, fixing his son with a gaze that had made grown men quake. Unfortunately Uryuu had been a recipient of the gaze at various points in his life since childhood and it took nothing for him to return it evenly, his eyes as unwavering as his father's. Ryuuken was clearly unhappy with the idea of his son going off to save Shinigami--again. He had not liked Shinigami in a very long time and while he understood their necessity to the world, he was not anxious to see his son running off to save any of them.

He had been livid when his son had gone off to save Orihime. Uryuu had been sure to explain that he was not actually working with Soul Society, simply going off to save a friend but Ryuuken had not seen the difference. As if it was not enough that the Shinigami had corrupted his son to the point where he would willingly go off to Hueco Mundo, they had seen fit to remove his friend's powers before all his injuries could be fixed. Uryuu had come back to Karakura Town with the rest of them, weak and injured but with no immediately life threatening injuries. Or so Ryuuken had thought. It was not until he had sat his son down to give him a proper exam that he had seen what Uryuu had been hiding. Or rather, what was not there anymore. To say he was stunned to see his son without a hand was an understatement. But Uryuu had calmly informed him that it had been healed enough so there was no point in ranting about what was missing. He would learn to live without a hand, considering how many people had to live with far more devastating losses.

It hadn't stopped Ryuuken from breaking Isshin Kurosaki's nose on behalf of all Shinigami.

After that there had only been one thing to do and that was to have his son move back home. It was a testament to the softer side Ryuuken was very successful at hiding that Uryuu Ishida's room had not been changed since his departure years earlier. Same bed, same wallpaper, same everything. Of course his son was no longer the child he had been when he left home, updates to the room had to be made. At first Uryuu had flat out refused, pride bright in his eyes. He had his own life, one he was not about to give up simply because he had lost his hand. Ryuuken had icily told him that he had lost much more than that and he was to return home immediately. Uryuu had furiously told him no and stormed out of the hospital.

Unfortunately, going from a place as Spiritual Particle rich as Hueco Mundo to the suddenly deficient Karakura Town was a recipe for fainting, one his son had promptly demonstrated by barely making it a foot out of the hospital. By the time he was conscious again he was back in his old room. When Uryuu had staggered out of his room and demanded to know what the hell was wrong with him, Ryuuken had revealed the entire house was designed to assist in the long term life of a Quincy, someone who depended on Spiritual Particles for power and, in dire times, for survival. Uryuu had vowed to stay until his strength returned.

That had been a year ago.

To say living together was difficult was a massive understatement. Uryuu had taken care of himself for so long he was set in his ways--ways that, as fate would have it, were eerily similar to those of his father. Neither was inclined to yield to the other. The second month had been the worst. The first Uryuu had been too weak to really care about anything. The second though things got bad. Ryuuken, fed up with his son's behavior, had showed up with a pretty young woman who introduced herself as Uryuu's new occupational therapist and she was going to teach him to be a functioning member of society with one hand. Uryuu had protested as much as his manners would allow but Ryuuken had ignored him. Uryuu had managed not to speak to his father for weeks after that, weeks until Ryuuken had forced him into a car to get fitted for his first prosthetic.

As he had watched the doctor, a man flown in from America, fit him with the device, he had realized that in his own strange way his father was trying to make amends with him. Grudgingly, Uryuu had lifted the silence he had placed, though his first stilted attempts at conversation did not do much. But gradually the men had begun to speak to each other. It was still full of formality, except when Uryuu called him Ryuuken, but it was far more than they previously had interacted. Now a year later, Uryuu looked at his father with the sickening feeling that he might loose the ground they had gained.

"Yes," he said finally, "Kurosaki is in trouble and I need to go and help him."

"And what about your girlfriend?" Ryuuken asked.

Heat burned Uryuu's cheeks.

It was still strange to think that he had a _girlfriend_.

There wasn't much to be done to deny it though. Tatsuki was too loud for secrets and he was terribly at lying. Besides once she had grabbed his collar and slammed their mouths together in front of the entire class, it was rather impossible to hide the fact they were together. When they had started showing up at each other's respective sporting events, the rumors had immediately started. Uryuu had thought it was clear they were together but it seemed the students felt the need to deem them boyfriend and girlfriend. And with the golden couple of Orihime and Ichigo broken up, the students seemed to zero in on his fledgling relationship with Tatsuki. He supposed there was something rather romantic, considering how incredibly different the two of them had been. His own crush on Orihime had been rather obvious and half the school had been convinced that somewhere deep inside, Tatsuki would rather have kissed Ichigo than punched him.

Half of Uryuu was sure that one day she was going to just tell him it was over, she wasn't the girlfriend-type of girl. But six months later, she still hadn't done anything of the sort. Oh she was loud and vibrant and a hundred things Uryuu knew that he was the exact opposite of, but for some reason they seemed to just work. They fought, of course, but their fights usually consisted of her shouting and him retorting in a tone she deemed infuriating. Uryuu liked it best when they did not fight. It was actually quite nice that their interested were so varied, there was no competition between the two of them---at least not until they went to the archery range together. Then Tatsuki seemed to get a bit competitive, to the point where she was beginning to strike bulls-eyes on her own.

"I believe that Tatsuki will be accompanying us," He said, knowing that any other answer would have her following them anyway.

"You trust in the girl's abilities? I was under the impression she had no powers."

"She does not," he said, "but I do not doubt her ability to take care of herself."

Ryuuken examined his son behind the glare of his glasses. Gone was the young man who had once looked at him with the last vestiges of a boy seeking some kind of fatherly approval. The man sitting opposite him was, well, exactly that. A man. He could not order him, not about this. He had learned that Uryuu would do just as he damn pleased, only now he had no doubt that Uryuu inform him of the fact first. While a part of him wished that his son would listen to him, the wiser part of him understood that his son was going to do what he believed and damn the consequences. Consequences that had cost him his hand.

"You should not go," he said finally, "and you certainly should not bring that girl with you."

"I can't stop Tatsuki from doing what she wishes," he said pushing his glasses up on his nose, "as for myself, I am going because this is what I must do. If something out there was powerful enough to capture Ichigo, then it is only a matter of time before they try to take over the world. Stopping it before it gets to that point, that is our only option."

"And you do not think to look for another route?" Ryuuken looked at him.

"No," Uryuu said, his voice sharp, "this is the only way."

"No," Ryuuken said, "it is not."

"Yes, it is," Uryuu said sharply, "it is the only way," Ryuuken arched an eyebrow, "it is," Uryuu said firmly, "i will not sink to the level of a Shinigami, nor of a Hollow."

"So you would be willing to cast aside what they have done and work with them again so easily?"

"Yes," Uryuu said.

Ryuuken sighed and got to his feet, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose as he did. Uryuu watched his every move. With quick, derisive movements Ryuuken reached up and loosened his tie. His fingers move to the button of his shirt. He undid the top button of his shirt, exposing his throat. Reaching underneath the fabric, he pulled out a long silver chain. Carefully he slipped the chain over his neck. From his fingers the chain fell free, revealing the amulet that hung prize-like at the end. Not a Quincy cross, the ornament was shaped like a cross completely contained within a circle. It shimmered as the light hit it, certain angles making it look as though the amulet was lost in the glow. Slowly Ryuuken lowered it to the table, placing it on the hard surface. With the same derisive movements he did the neck of his shirt up and fixed his tie.

Uryuu stared at the amulet on the chain, his eyes wide. What he was staring at was not supposed to exist and it certainly was not supposed to be hidden beneath the starched button down shirt his father wore. How long had he kept it concealed? How had he managed to make sure people were convinced it remained lost in legend? Uryuu wanted to ask a hundred things but he found them all caught behind the tightness in his throat. Instead he looked up at his father, already knowing he would find the older man's eyes on the amulet as well.

"As you said," Ryuuken said, "another war will end the world," he looked at his son, "you will know, if and when you must use it," he turned and walked to the door, "I will inform your school of your impending absence."

Uryuu remained sitting there, long after his father had left the room, his eyes transfixed on the amulet that lay on the kitchen table.

**

* * *

**

"Good morning! Good morning!" Urahara said loudly, brightly.

"Hello Urahara!" Orihime cried, matching his exuberant tone, more out of habit than the joy she felt.

They made a strange pair, standing there. The only trace of what had happened last night to Urahara was the pressure he felt behind his eyes and the slight dryness in his mouth. He felt no remorse or guilt in slipping into the persona he most often offered to the world. He had learned a long time ago that people who were worried about other people rarely worried about themselves. Perhaps because joy was the first way that they had seen him, the others did not question the smile they saw on his face, no matter how much of a lie it was. Even the usually highly observant Ulquiorra saw nothing strange about his behavior.

"Come in," Urahara said stepping aside to allow her into the shop, "I have fixed the gate for your passage to Soul Society."

"Great!" Orihime said before she hesitated, "wait, my passage? What about the others?"

"Oh they aren't going with you."

Orihime's eyes widened at how casually he said it. She was going alone. But she--she couldn't just be going alone. That was, that was crazy. She had no powers and the last time she had interacted with Soul Society it had been as they yanked the people she cared about--the people who cared about her--away. How was she supposed to go to that place powerless? Just as a teenager. She would be eaten alive, or worse if she went there alone. Urahara turned his head and grinned over his shoulder at the raw fear in her eyes.

"Don't look so afraid," he said with a smile, "allow me to explain. You are the only one who can go in."

"Why?" she asked softly.

"Well, Ulquiorra can't go because while Soul Society was willing to release him into my custody, I fear that if he were to appear through a backdoor I had created, Mayuri might not be able to keep that overly long blue fingernail of his to himself. Tatsuki cannot go because the conversion process feels a bit strange, as you know, but Soul Society also doesn't know her and might view it as an attack. Uryuu cannot go because if a Quincy shows up, they _will_ view it as an attack. Which leaves you. You are perfect to go because Soul Society doesn't think of you as a threat, nor do they fear you. You should have enough residual power to get through the gate without any sort of mishap and you know enough of the people there that they won't just attack you."

"I suppose that makes sense," she said quietly as he led her to the back of the shop where the underground room was.

"I know you're good enough to pull this off," Urahara said looking up at her. Orihime forced her lips into a smile as he slid open the door and started down the ladder.

She followed him down it. Jumping the last rung she turned around. Ulquiorra was standing at the base of the ladder, his features completely closed off. Orihime bit her lip, knowing what that meant. When Ulquirra was upset or angry or any emotion that would infuriate him, he would close himself off. Just by not being able to immediately read him, Orihime knew that something was wrong. Urahara smiled at him, though the emerald eyed former Espada did not even look at him. The blond man walked further into the massive underground space as Orihime approached Ulquiorra.

"I'll be alright," she said softly, "Urahara was right, I'm the best choice to go and tell them what's happened."

"I hardly think you entering Soul Society through one of Urahara's backdoors to inform them that Kurosaki has managed to get himself kidnapped and possibly be the key to ending the world is 'alright'," Ulquiorra said, finally turning to look at her.

When Urahara had casually mentioned that he had fixed the gate and that Orihime would be going through alone, Ulquiorra's first response was to scream no at the top of his lungs and perhaps go into a second release just to prove his point. Then he realized just how juvenile that sounded and settled instead for glaring at the shopkeeper, to which Urahara responded by complaining Ulquiorra did not trust him anymore. The entire situation was unpleasant and ridiculous and Ulquiorra was not in the mood to deal with Urahara in one of his childish moods anymore than he wished to see Orihime go through the Gate alone. But there was no way to avoid either of those things.

"I know," Orihime said softly, reaching out and grasping his hand, "but I promise i'll be careful."

Ulquiorra looked down at their joined hands. Even in his gigai his skin was far paler than hers, in any form he thought it would be the case. They would always _be_ different, not simply on an emotional level but on a physical one. Modifications to his gigai, food consumption, it made a difference but not completely. Their differences were drastic. There had been a time not too long ago when he had thought that their differences would divide them, tear them apart before there was even really a them. But now when he looked down at their joined hands, he did not see simply differences that would tear them apart.

He saw balance.

Dark to light, sun to moon, everything that they were was what the other lacked. Even now as he stood with his lips pressed together, a small smile graced hers. She stepped closer to him, her other hand moving out and reaching for his other one. Orihime looked at him, wishing that she could find the words to find a way to tell him that there wasn't a reason to be worried. Even if she felt the worry inside herself, she didn't want him to worry about her. Ulquiorra was going to have to deal with enough, especially if she managed to bring back help from Soul Society. She didn't know what they would think or do when they learned what was going on in the real world. Or when they learned that Ulquiorra was going to be the one helping them find Ichigo Kurosaki. _They_ had learned to trust Ulquiorra but the rest of them hadn't been through what they had with the ex-Espada, seen what they had seen.

"I hate to interrupt this," Urahara said coming up to them, "but once I get this Gate open, I can't keep it open for long."

Ulquiorra nodded quickly.

"Come," he said.

Orihime held his hand tightly as they made their way through the underground space to where Urahara had the Gate set up. Orihime swallowed thickly as she looked up at the familiar structure. Every time she had gone through that Gate it had been to save someone or something. To learn, to get stronger. But now, now she was going through it for the most important mission of all. She was going through it to get help to save the world. There wasn't going to be anyone coming with her, no backup to save her. No hero to follow through hell or high water, nor any Shinigami to escort her through the darkness with the cleaners that would trap her forever. There was only her, powerless Orihime Inoue who had nothing but her wits to see her through the trial ahead.

But what really scared her was what she would find on the other side.

Had Rukia survived? Had she forgotten about them? What about Renji or Byakuya or any of their other 'friends'? She had always thought if she saw any of the Shinigami again she would yell at them for what they did. For taking her flowers, for abandoning them, for leaving Uryuu without a hand and Ichigo without a heart. She would demand to know how, after everything they had been through, could they have left them alone like that? But now as she looked at the Gate, as she thought about how she would have a real chance to do that, all that she could think was what if Rukia hadn't survived? What if Unohana hadn't been quick enough to fix Renji? What if--what if everyone she had fought beside had died again? What if that was why they hadn't come for them? Looking at the Gate, Orihime couldn't decide which of the two options sounded worse, only that they both sounded pretty terrible.

"Orihime," Orihime looked over at Ulquiorra, "you will be alright," he told her, his voice leaving no room for her to argue.

"I know," she said bravely looking up at Urahara.

"If--" Ulquiorra stopped as Orihime looked at him.

Almost embarrassed, the ex Espada reached into his pocket, his fingers closing around an object. He pulled it out. Orihime's eyes widened at the sight of the silver bracelet, the first thing he had ever given her besides bruises. She had thought it lost when they left Hueco Mundo, after it fell out of her pocket during the fight on the dome of Las Noches. Ulquiorra held his hand out, the silver circle balanced on his finger. Orihime held her hand out underneath his, allowing him to place the circle in her palm.

"If things do not go as they should," he said, "and you need to disappear, put this on," Ulquiorra covered her hand with his own, "you will become--"

"Invisible to everyone but the Arrancar," she said.

"Yes," he said, "and I will come for you."

Orihime smiled as she looked at the hand laid on top of hers. Her eyes moved to Ulquiorra's face, taking in the worry that shone in his eyes. She knew he believed that she could protect herself, just as she knew that he thought of himself as her protector. However well he thought she could protect herself, he thought he could do a far better job of it. Slowly she lowered her hand, her fingers closing around the silver bracelet. Ulquiorra lowered his own hand back to his waist as Orihime stepped closer to him. One hand was clasped around the bracelet, the other reached up and touched his shoulder. Orihime stood on her toes and softly pressed her mouth against his.

Ulquiorra kissed her back, his movements gentle. One of his arms slid around her waist, though his hand remained high as his fingers spread across her back. His lips gently parted hers, deepening the kiss but not forcing her movements. He never forced her, though she was more than willing. Slowly she pulled back, her lips lingering against his and her fingers still cupping his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open as she looked at him and the trust he still saw shining in them still affected him in a way he was not sure he would ever truly be able to understand. Slowly she lowered her hand, taking a step back from him, her eyes moving to the Gate.

"Alright," she said looking back at Urahara, "I'm ready."

"Okay! Let get started!" Urahara said brightly, "now, remember--"

"Two minutes," she said, "I'll be quick," she smiled looking at Ulquiorra and then at him as she slipped the bracelet into her pocket.

Urahara opened the Gate.

The moment he did, Orihime ran forward as fast as she could through the darkness. The nervousness was great but the fear of being forever trapped in the darkness between the two worlds got the better of her. She pushed herself as fast as she could, forcing her body to move as quickly as she could. She had to get through. No matter what waited on the other side of the Gate, no matter what happened in Soul Society, she had to get to the other side before the passage closed. It felt strange to have her body changed, converted, but there were more important things to focus on than the feeling. She saw the bright light on the other end, the white light showing her eventual goal. This was where she was what she was running towards. She had to get there before time was up, no matter what was at the other end. If they had betrayed her, if they were dead, it didn't matter. She needed to get out of the place she was in, she need to get to Soul Society.

The light got brighter and bigger until it was all she could see. She jumped over the small ledge that separated where she was from Soul Society and onto the ground she had not stood on in what seemed like a very long time. But the sky was still the same blue, the oddly lazy clouds floating above her head. Urahara's Gate had seemed to drop her right in the middle of the Court of Pure Souls. She recognized the buildings around her and the stones under her feet. It was all perfect, as if there hadn't been a war there. No destroyed homes, no rubble, just the endless purity of the Court. Half of her was stunned it had worked at all, the other half was terrified of the sight that greeted her when she moved her gaze down. A hundred men, all in the Uniform of the Second Division stood there, their weapons at the ready. Orihime's eyes widened as she heard the Gate behind her hiss shut, locking her in the world. Instantly her hand shot to her pocket, her fingers wrapping around the bracelet. She could put it on, she could disappear and be saved. She didn't have to do anything.

But she did.

"I need to talk to the Commander General," she said in the firmest, clearest voice she could manage, "something's happened to Ichigo Kurosaki and we desperately need your help."

* * *

**Next time: Rukia's fate, is she alive or not? What about the other Shinigami? Will they help, will they say no? And what's with that amulet Ryuuken gave Uryuu? **

**Please review! I know the site was seriously messed up when I updated last time. Big thanks to those who managed to get through to review!**

**So this time, please review! I love reviews, you love updates. It works as well as Ulquihime!**

**(okay not really, but pretty close)**

**Review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Welcome back to the story!  
**

**Before we get started keep an open mind about Renji's reaction to the news of Orihime's, ah, relationship. Remember that the S.S. people don't know that Ulqui's not that bad and Renji's got some reservations about what's going on with her. **

**So keep that in mind. **

**Back to the story!**

**

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**

The sound of her feet matched the pounding of her heart.

Orihime paced the confines of the small room she'd been ushered into. The pale floor, the white walls, the screens--even the smell of it was overwhelmingly familiar. They had used _Shunpo_ to get her into the room. She'd seen nothing of Soul Society. But this building stood. As if there hadn't been a war. As if they hadn't had everyone they thought they could trust leave them powerless and alone. The building she stood in represented everything she found fundamentally wrong with the world and for one horrible moment Orihime wished she had her powers so she could blow it into oblivion. Deep inside her pocket her fingers tightened around the bracelet. Ulquiorra had faced so much and he always did it with that cool and calm of his. If he could act the way he did when staring down an enemy, then so could she.

The sound of footsteps pounding along the floor froze her pacing as her heart leapt into her throat. Panic threatened to blindside her as her fingers began to tighten. She could slip on the bracelet, she could disappear, Ulquiorra had _promised_ he'd come for her and she believed him. But then what? Ulquiorra coming here would only make Soul Society more angry. They needed their powers back, they _had_ to save Ichigo before another war got started. Withdrawing her hand from the circlet of metal, Orihime tried to focus on who was coming towards her. Obviously they weren't good at _Shunpo_ or they'd be doing that. And from the weight behind each step she figured they were a man. A man who wasn't good at the Demon Arts probably. They skidded to a stop outside the door and Orihime turned to face the screens, her eyes finding a very unfamiliar silhouette before the doors were thrown open.

"Inoue?!"

She had a glimpse of violently colored red hair, inky lines and a swinging white haori before she found herself caught in a fierce embrace.

"Renji!" Orihime gasped, her arms coming up around him in a gesture that was almost automatic in its familiarity, "oh my God--Renji!"

When the red haired Shinigami finally moved back, Orihime stared at him. He looked so incredibly familiar, as if they had not been separated for as long as they had. The tattoos on his face extended further down and through the loose neck of uniform she could see that the inky lines on his chest reached further up as well. The high, spiky pony tail had been traded for a lower, looser, shorter style. Scars traced his face from his right cheekbone to his ear before slashing from her ear all the way to his right collarbone. But they were scars. No blood soaking his entire body as his chest struggled for breath. The most jarring thing however was the white haori that hung from his frame. Her eyes widened as she realized that in their time apart Renji had not only survived, he had been promoted. He was a Captain now.

"The Guards said that you were here but I didn't believe them!" the now Captain cried staring at her, "look at you! You haven't changed a bit!" he continued with the same exuberance, "you look great!"

"Look at you!" Orihime cried before she could stop herself, "you're a Captain now! What Division are you the head of?"

"Third," Renji said, "I didn't want to do it but--" he stopped and shrugged, "eh, well, least I get to boss Kira 'round now!"

"I can't believe you're a Captain!" Orihime said before she could stop herself, "I always knew you'd be a great Captain Renji! Its so great that you're finally getting the chance to do it!"

"Yeah," Renji said, his smile fading slightly, "listen, Inoue, its great to see you but what're you doin here? The old man made a big stink about sealin every way in and out but no-one knew you'd be comin."

"I know," Orihime said, her own smile fading in response as she looked at her toes, "and I wouldn't have come if it wasn't really important."

"Well what is it?" Renji asked bluntly looking at her.

"Its Ichigo," Orihime said, "he's been gone for a while now--"

"Wait, what? What do you mean Ichigo's been gone for a while. I thought you all were still in Karakura Town!"

"No," she shook her head, "Ichigo left a few months ago."

Renji stared at her. Orihime closed her eyes, unsure of how to continue. The joy of seeing him was quickly fading as she realized that everything that had happened in the past year was unknown to people who had once shared everything with them. Ichigo and her hadn't even been dating when they had last seen each other. Now they had not only dated they had broken up. They knew that Ulquiorra was alive but they didn't know that he had become friends with the rest of them or that she and Ulquiorra were dating. Oh God they didn't know they were dating! The moment she tried to focus on Ichigo she realized that when she told them everything that happened they were going to find out that she had left their former golden boy Ichigo for the Espada that they had only saved because they thought he would be good to experiment on. Stomach churning Orihime looked up at the red haired man who, she had a sinking feeling, was not going to understand a word of what she was about to tell him.

"Ichigo left a few months ago after we broke up--"

"You were dating?!"

"Yes, and then when Ulquiorra was fighting a Hollow a few days ago--"

"Ulquiorra's fight--wait, he's fighting _other_ Hollows?!"

"Yes and then the Hollow said that we'd never save Ichigo--or something like that--and since they kidnapped Ichigo and we're quite powerless now we figured the best thing would be to come to you all for help since whatever the people who have Ichigo have planned is going to have to do with Soul Society."

Renji stared at her. The moment the Guards had come and told him that Orihime Inoue was there and that she had found a backdoor entrance into Soul Society and that she was saying she need their help, he had known something was up. He had bolted before he had time to consider the implications of running there, before he had time to chicken out and, most importantly, before another Captain had time to get to her. The Shinigami were on edge as it was and having one of the people they thought that they would never see again just come waltzing in as if a thousand protocols hadn't been established for this very situation. They had all been sure that Ulquiorra was in Urahara's basement and that the rest of them were moving on with their lives. But now it seemed like that was not the case. Ulquiorra was off fighting Hollow and Ichigo was gone--and had been gone for a long time now. How the hell had he just gone off without them knowing?

What else had happened since they had parted ways?

It was easy to forget when they were not fighting to save the world that things still happened, that time still moved. Soul Society had had its share of chaos but nothing like they had once had. Stupidly they had written off the people that they had fought and bled alongside. They had written them off because they had thought that they were people, high school kids who were just at the start of their lives. Lives that stretched ahead of them, rich with possibility and potential. Lives that should have had nothing to do with the dead. The low ranking Shinigami who had been permitted to go into Karakura Town had a standing order to release memory erasing kido every time they went in. If there was a serious spike in Spiritual Pressure then they released more of it. The last major alteration in Spiritual Power had been a few months ago but it hadn't been anything incredible. The standing order was because of Hollow presence there. It wasn't enough to increase the necessity of Shinigami but it was enough that people constantly needed to not remember what had happened.

The moment Renji had woken up in the Fourth Division he had wanted to know what happened to their human friends. Initially no-one had given him an answer and the fact that his neck had been laid open very recently had made it very hard to find out more. As he healed he had been called in by the Commander General who had brought Captain Kuchiki along. They had both told him what he suspected they were telling the other Shinigami who were asking about the living people. They were just that: alive. Their interactions with the dead were not only detrimental to them, but they should not spent their lives with the dead. Soul Society was what came after life, not during it. The knowledge of Ichigo's parentage had only furthered the Commander General's conviction that too close an interaction with the transient world had occurred. Renji had objected, especially when he had learned that their powers had been taken from them.

Unfortunately they did have a point.

Renji, Byakuya--all of them had lived once and then they had died. The others were not dead, they had only had one life. Renji was one of those who did not remember their lives, like most of Soul Society But the fact of the matter was that in his life Renji probably hadn't known what Soul Society was. In an ideal world, no-one should. Life should be lived and what came afterwards was something to be worried about, it wasn't something to be known. And once he had been recovered, a thousand things suddenly built up. Taking the Captain's exam, becoming a Captain--dealing with the fractured remains of Soul Society and the new rules that had been put into place while he was laying in the Fourth Division. All of it had just built and built until he had been forced to focus on the destroyed world he inhabited rather than the world outside the rubble that had once been walls guarded by giants.

Like the rest of them he had never expected to see Ichigo or the others again. When they died they would be collected and separated from their memories and reborn in Soul Society. In a hundred years or so he could meet the person Orihime became, fall in love and marry her and neither would be aware of the connection they shared. Sometimes it seemed as if it had only been days since the end of the war and sometimes it seemed like it had been centuries. But now as he looked at the girl in front of him Renji realized that it hadn't been very long at all.

"So Ichigo's gone eh? What'd you do, dump him?"

"Kind of," Orihime said with a wince, "its a bit more complicated. We kind of dumped each other I guess. But then he just ran off and we thought everything was _fine_ before this Hollow said that they had him and we were in trouble."

"Okay okay," Renji swiped a hand across his face, frustration naked on his features, "well if its Ichigo then we're all in a ton of trouble."

"You believe me then?!" Orihime cried.

"Of course I believe you," Renji said, "especially when it comes to Ichigo. I ain't never underestimating his ability to get into trouble--and to drag the rest of us with him."

"That's very true," Orihime agreed, "but we don't know how to deal with this--"

"Hold on," Renji said, "whose we?"

"Well there's me," Orihime said, "Uryuu too and then there's Tatsuki and Urahara and, um, Ulquiorra."

"What do you mean 'and Ulquiorra'?" he questioned, "you think that Arrancar's going to go and _rescue_ anyone--especially Ichigo?"

Orihime stared at him. The idea of a someone questioning Ulquiorra and calling him an Arrancar like that, it was an unsettling one. And it was jarring. Ulquiorra had proven himself ten times over to all of them but the people here, they viewed him as something else. As something wrong and evil and certainly not to be trusted. And Renji was among the warmest of the Shinigam. If this was how he treated the very idea of working with Ulquiorra then what were the rest of them going to say when they realized that Ulquiorra was not only working with them, he was more than that. He was their friend, he was her--well she was not quite sure what he was, only that he was very important to her and that the idea of him being the brunt of judgement by people who had no right to judge him was one Orihime could not just stand by and accept. Not after all that he had done to protect her.

"Of course he's going to come with us and rescue Ichigo! He's the one the Hollow said those horrible things to."

"And you believed him?!" Renji demanded, "Inoue you can't be that stupid--"

"I love him!" she broke in with a shout. Renji's eyes widened as Orihime yanked the bracelet out of her pocket and showed it to him, "he told me that if anything happened to me here I just had to put this on and he would come for me and I know that's the truth because I love him and he loves me!"

Orihime Inoue was in love with an Arrancar, with the Arrancar that had kidnapped and imprisoned her no less. He had been released to Urahara as the last of a dying race. They had been sure that Urahar would keep the Arrancar locked up in his basement where he could be studied. They hadn't thought that he'd let him go out in the world or even that he would let him interact with the rest of them. Damn it, he knew they should have planned this better, they should have dealt with what had happened rather than trying to sweep it all under the rug. They should have thought that Urahara would have let Ulquiorra out and that he would interact with the rest of them. But even if they had thought that, who would have thought he would have though that he would become friend with them, that any of them would forgive him? That Orihime would fall in _love_ with him? The entire idea was impossible to wrap his head around, even though Renji had been sure that he had seen everything crazy in the world.

"You're joking right?" Renji said, forcing a smile on his face n desperate hope that she'd reciprocate but no smile came to her face, "I mean, you aren't really dating an Espada--"

"Ex-Espada," Orihime corrected him, ignoring the tightness in her throat and the stinging of her eyes, "and I'm only here to ask for your help in rescuing Ichigo because we both know that if someone doesn't do it then whoever has him is going to use him to destroy this place and then they'll come for us."

She wasn't kidding.

Renji couldn't help but gape at her. She seriously wasn't kidding. So she had left Ichigo, the boy they'd all been convinced was her sun--was the center of her entire universe--for the Espada who they had fought tooth and nail to save her from. Renji would still think she was bullshitting him if he hadn't looked at her eyes. She didn't look cold or angry anymore. Well, maybe still a bit angry. But mostly she looked upset, like she was on the verge of tear. It didn't take much to make Orihime Inoue cry but Renji realized that, like always, her tears weren't for herself. They were for someone else. They were for Ulquiorra. She really was in love with the Arrancar. Renji felt a lump of something cold and unpleasant settle in his stomach. On one hand he knew that if they let her eave then whoever had Ichigo was going to use him to destroy them all but Renji couldn't help but think that even if they did help her--help them, then it was going to come back and bite them in the ass too. It was a choice of two evils and so quickly Renji chose what he prayed was the lesser of the two.

"Okay, okay," he said quickly, "put that thing away," he said looking at the bracelet, "you're in enough shit as it is, we don't need you running around showing Arrancar technology to everyone who asks about your love life," Orihime crammed the bracelet into her pocket, "okay, first thing is how'd you get in here?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Orihime asked.

"Oaky, stupid question," Renji said, knowing it was Urahara, "you ain't a threat and if what you're sayin is true then we gotta move fast," he looked at her as she quickly tucked the bracelet into her pocket before looking up at him, "I'm gonna have to _Shunpo_ us there."

"_Shunpo _us where?" Orihime demanded.

"Here," Renji said bypassing her question, "get your arms around my neck, we gotta move if we're gonna pull this off."

"Pull what off? Renji?!"

Orihime's arms flew about his neck as he pulled her clear off the ground. The familiar sensation of _Shunpo_ was nauseating as they shot through the grounds of Soul Society. Perhaps it was the fact it had been so long since she'd been _Shunpoed_ anywhere or maybe it was because of the heightened Spiritual Particles but by the time they got to the destination, Orihime's head was spinning so fast she did not know where they were. Renji set her down but Orihime found she could barely stand upright. And the smell, it smelled like she had fallen headfirst into a vat of perfume. She heard another person come to stand in front of them. Blinking, Orihime looked around and realized that the smell was the flowers and that they were standing in front of a very large house and the person standing in front of them was by far the neatest person Orihime had ever laid eyes on, whether her head was spinning or not. He fixed Renji with a look that made Orihime feel like they were both in a huge amount of trouble, even though the man's eyes never went to Orihime.

"Captain Abarai, this is a private residence, you cannot come in every time you want to speak to Lady Kuchiki--"

"Look," Renji said, "this is a life or death emergency. I _need_ to see Lady Kuchiki right now."

"Somehow, Captain Abarai, I highly doubt that," the man replied.

"No, you don't understand--"

"Listen!" Orihime said trying to stand up as strait as she could, "I've come from the transient world through a backdoor opened by a very crazy scientist because someone has kidnapped a friend of ours and is probably going to use him to end the world so you need to let us see Lady Kuchiki right now or, uh--"

"The world's going to end," Renji supplied.

For a moment Orihime was sure he was going to say no. But then the man gave the barest of inclines of his head and turned on his heel.

"Follow me."

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**Next time we find out who this Lady Kuchiki is. (*hint* its not byakuya's wife) and more of what's going on in Soul Society now. then we'll find out what's going on back in the transient world! **

**Remember if you review I'll update!  
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**So please review! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the delay! Life, craziness, you know the usual. But here's a nice update for everyone whose been waiting!**

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Orihime and Renji walked through the spotless interior of the Kuchiki Manor.

She had been there only a handful of times before but the impressiveness of the place never failed to make an impression on her. Light streamed through the screens, some of which were open to reveal the sprawling gardens that surrounded Soul Society. Even as the light streamed through the hallway it did not reveal any dust in the air. Orihime was spellbound by how perfect everything was. The man in front of them moved with the kind of grace and stealth she had only seen from Yoruichi and Byakuya, his feet silent on the wood of the floor. The screens revealed the perfect gardens but as if that was not enough, flowers were everywhere inside as well. Perfectly arranged, they sat on vases or in bowls balanced on tall wooden tables. The entire house smelled wonderful, only heightening the beauty she saw with her eyes.

And yet for all the beauty, Orihime could sense that something was terribly wrong. Renji did not just look uncomfortable, he looked downright worried. The discomfort she was used to. Even when she had last seen him there had been a clear barrier between him and his Captain. Now, though he had a higher status, Orihime imagined he still wasn't cut for nobility. But this extended far beyond any kind of simple discomfort at a status difference. Renji looked like they were walking towards his worst nightmare come to life. She could see his hand twitching like he wanted to hold his Zanpakuto but knew that nothing good would come from it. Orihime opened her mouth to ask him what was going on but the man who was walking them towards Lady Kuchiki glanced back, as if he could sense she was about to break the silence that enveloped the house. Instantly Orihime shut her mouth, pressing her lips tightly together in an effort to contain her words.

She missed Ulquiorra.

Really she did. He would know exactly what to do in this situation, even if it was just how to act like he did not feel like he was sticking out like a sore thumb. Orihime felt as if she had a big red sign over her head saying that she was the one who didn't belong. She knew his aloofness was a defense mechanism and it had repeatedly infuriated her but she couldn't help but feel that Ulquiorra would be dealing with the situation much better than she currently was. She knew she looked as nervous as she felt, even though she was forcibly stopping herself from biting her lip or gripping the bracelet Ulquiorra had given her. Taking a deep breath, she tried desperately to channel Ulquiorra. She forced her posture to be straighter and her features to be smooth. With the next breath she unpressed her lips and focused her gaze at a very specific spot right over the man's shoulder. She was so intent on that that she did not realize when they walked through the doors and onto the porch of the building.

"Wait here," the man said turning to them before he walked into the gardens.

"Okay," Renji turned to face her, grabbing her shoulders when she did not turn to him, "look, before he comes back you gotta understand that she's different now."

"Who--"

"She ain't a Shinigami, not anymore. And she's been hurt bad. Not just physically but in other ways too. So, yeah, just keep that in mind. It ain't like what happened to you guys didn't happen to her too. She's not--" he looked over his shoulder towards the doors, as if he was checking for something before turning towards her again, "I ain't sayin this is bad or good, its just different and you--you gotta prepare yourself for it okay?"

"Prepare myself for what?" Orihime asked, her mind feeling as if it was a thousand miles behind what was going on.

A throat clearing interrupted them.

"Lady Kuchiki will see you now," he said.

Renji nodded and the two of them turned to follow the man who still looked at them with a hint of digust. As if by being there they were violating something, something they should not be violating. He led them along a path of smooth stones that wound through the breathtaking gardens. In spite of all the terrible things that had brought her to this place, Orihime found herself completely spellbound by the beauty of the gardens. The flowers here were even more luscious than she had seen from the house. The scent of the flowers outside was intoxicating. Orihime's already spinning head seemed to whirl even faster. Even the sun was not blinding--it barely hurt her eyes as it filtered softly through the trees, ripe and heavy with leafs. Somewhere nearby Orihime could hear a stream trickling softly as it wound through the splendor of the gardens. The man walked along the path, turning seamlessly as he wound his way through the gardens towards the location of the person that he had called Lady Kuchiki. Rounding a turn, she got her first glimpse of the woman.

She did not know her.

Not at first glance anyway. Back turned to them, the woman projected the aura of refined elegance that Orihie had come to understand nobility was known for. Even though no-one was around and she held a book in her palms, she sat perfectly strait, like there was an invisible string from her head to the branches of the tree. Her ebony hair was pulled back and woven in an elaborate style, held in place with three long prongs of gold and, what at first glance seemed to be a purple flower. But it sparkled artificially and Orihime realized that the ornament was not a natural flower but a piece of amethyst, carved by a master hand to be almost indistinguishable from an actual flower. If the weight was troubling to her she didn't show it. The woman wore a pale pink kimono, embroidered more elegantly than any Orihime had seen. A wide ruby obi wound around her waist, its knot high on her back and artfully tied to reveal a pattern of butterflies so detailed that Orihime half expected the butterflies to take flight and alight on her hair ornament. The woman sitting there looked like she belonged in a painting.

"A thousand pardons, Lady Kuchiki, your guests are here."

"Thank you," came the soft reply as the woman set the book aside, stood with grace and turned around.

From the front, at a glance, she was equally unrecognizable. Her face was made up with an artful hand, the makeup nothing short of perfection with pale, flawless skin, luminous eyes and lips that shone with color. Pearls, suspended on thin wires of silver hung from her earlobes to hover above the collar of her kimono. Orihime was certain that she had bought dolls that did not look as perfect as the woman in front of her. Unlike Renji, however, who had grabbed her and swung her around in a bear hug this woman just looked at her, hands folded neatly at the base of her obi. To an untrained eye transformation might have been simple but it was not. Everything from the way she stood to the way she looked at them was so incredibly different that Orihime found her head spinning even worse at the sight of her. The only thing that made her sure she had not fallen asleep or down the rabbit hole was the soft sigh that escaped Renji's lips as he shifted his weight and looked at the woman.

"Hey Rukia," he said, his voice sounding nothing like what Orihime was used to hearing from him when he spoke to his friend.

Orihime was speechless. It was Rukia, it had to be, but she knew if she passed her on the street she wouldn't know it--not that she thought that the woman in front of her ever just went on the street. It went beyond the staggering external transformation. The twist of Rukai's lips, the loud echo of her voice--all of it was gone. The spark in her eyes was out. Everything that Orihime had known or admired about the woman standing in front of her was gone. Orihime didn't recognize her. She looked like a doll, like the very thing that the nobles had tried to force her into being. She'd resisted it, hated it, fought it with everything in her and yet the woman standing in front of her was everything that they had tried to make her. And it wasn't like when she'd seen Rukia and she'd acted all Noble but held onto a distinct distaste and discomfort with it, this woman wore her nobility as naturally as Byakuya did. As if it was everything that she was. She did not let her emotions show as she looked at the two of them, though Orihime thought she had to be feeling something--feeling _anything_.

It was one of the most tragic things Orihime had ever seen.

"Captain Abarai," she greeted with an incline of her head before turning to Oirhime, "Inoue," she fixed Orihime with the doll like stare and Orihime quickly laced her fingers behind her back, pressing the digits together as tightly as they could go, "you look well."

"Thanks," Orihime said, "so--so do you--" she trailed off looking at her, knowing her voice was far too unstable to make the lie any kind of believable. Rukia made no comment on it, looking at her with the same unnervingly calm gaze, "so you're Lady Kuchiki now?"

"Yes," Rukia replied, "my responsibilities are with the Kuchiki family now."

"Well Captain Ukitake must have been sorry to see you go," she said with a smile. Something flickered in Rukia's eyes. Orihime glanced over to see Renji looking steadfastly at the ground, "Did he--"

"Captain Ukitake did not survive the final battle of the Winter War," Rukia said, as whatever emotion Orihime had seen in her eyes was smoothed over, "he died with honor, as did all who were lost on that day."

"Yes they did," Orihime said, agreeing whole heartedly with the statement.

She had been so relieved that Rukia and Renji and Byakuya were alive that it hadn't occurred to her to think of those who were lost. Immediately Orihime felt guilty, terribly guilty. How many hours had she spent wondering, torn between hope and despair, half wishing that she'd know who was really gone and half wishing that she could just pretend everyone had come through it alive. Endless hours, and yet now that she was learning the truth she realized that whether they had lived or died, the fact was that it hurt. It hurt that the people they'd cared about, the people they'd thought as friends hadn't come for them. Almost as much as it hurt to realize that some of those people did not make it through the ordeal. People like Ukitake who had always been so nice and so friendly, who'd gone out of his way to make people see the greatness in themselves. Who had been such a perfect Captain, one who wasn't afraid to fight for what was really right even if it meant going against what the Commander General said.

And now he was gone.

"Who--" she began.

"Later," Renji cut her off, "so, guess whose in need of rescuing, again?" he asked looking at Rukia, sounding just like the Renji Orihime remembered, "Ichigo's got himself kidnapped."

Her mask slipped.

Just for a moment, Orihime could see everything that she felt. Her violet eyes shone with worry, her lips parted and beneath the pale paint on her face Orihime could see the color draining out of her face. She looked scared and confused and worried and, belatedly, Orihime realized that she hadn't told Rukia that Ichigo had survived at all. In her head she could still see the horror on Rukia's face as she screamed, her arm desperately reaching for Ichigo, both of them broken physically, emotionally and yet they both fought to get to the other. But it was pointless, the world had closed and every difference that had brought them together ripped them apart. Ichigo had been hurt, more than Orihime thought she'd ever be able to understand, and it seemed that Rukia had been as well. Both had been shattered and neither had dealt with it. It had been clear how fundamentally different Rukia and Ichigo had been but it had never been as clear just how similar they had been. But the look she saw in Rukia's face was just like the one she had seen on Ichigo's.

And then it was gone.

Her lips pressed tightly together as her eyes closed, while she collected her emotions. She did it fast, faster than Orihime thought that she'd ever seen it done. But when Rukia opened her eyes her features were as smooth as they had been when she first looked at them. Orihime felt her stomach drop even lower as Rukia looked at the two of them though Orihime knew they'd never know what she was thinking. Hands to her sides, she bowed to the degree that a member of nobility would bow to a member of the lower class.

"I wish you the best of luck in rescuing Ichigo. Kazuki will show you out," she looked at the two of them for a moment longer, "goodbye, Inoue, Captain Abarai."

She turned around and walked down the path, her steps dainty and careful if not a little bit rushed. Orihime watched her go. She wanted to say something, to go after her, but she was unable to move or to speak. A part of her still screamed that it was impossible, that the pale, perfect, emotionless creature that she had just seen could not have been Rukia. But at the same time she knew that it was. That Rukia was just as broken, just as lost as Ichigo. But she was not a Shinigami, not a fighter, not anymore. She was a Noble, not like Captain Kuchiki or Yoruichi but an entirely different kind. One that, for the life of her, Orihime did not know how to deal with. Her mouth opened and closed as she turned and looked at Renji. His gaze was locked on the figure that was moving towards the house, that would soon be gone from their sight.

"She's not going to help?" Orihime demanded. Renji looked at her, "she's just--she's just going to be here? But its Ichigo!"

Renji looked at her, disappointment and sadness obvious on his features. She saw the effects of what had happened but Renji, Renji had been there for all of it. She'd watched Ichigo's downward spiral, fighting as best she could and she knew Renji had done the same for Rukia. But they hadn't been able to save them. Because at the end of the day no matter how hard they fought, until the people they were trying to save decided to fight as well, there wasn't any point. The only people who could save Rukia and Ichigo were, well, were Rukia and Ichigo. But for the people that cared about the, watching helplessly wasn't something that they did very well. It hurt, to be so helpless, in more ways than it hurt to loose a battle. At least if they fought fighting they had fought. But to fight, knowing that you were helpless in the end, those were the worst kinds of fights.

"Yeah," Renji said finally, "but that doesn't matter anymore."

"But I saw her face," Orihime said turning towards the manor, "she still cares about him--"

"Course she does," Renji said, "but," he paused, swiping a hand angrily over his head, "damn, come on, we should get outta here before--" he trailed off, turning his head towards the house as if sensing something.

Orihime turned her head as well. Two figures were making their way towards them. Behind her she heard Kazuki fuss and realized that one of them must have been Captain Kuchiki. Sure enough the figures sharpened and became more distinct as they came closer. Both wore the white haori's of Captains, though aside from that their appearances could not have been more different. The one on the right had unruly black hair, still unkempt but short enough now to fully reveal a face that was handsome, though scarred and tattooed. His haori and robes were sleeveless, though the lines on both were hemmed neatly. His robe was loose at the front and even from a distance Orihime could clearly see the multitude of scars that decorated his chest. But his injuries were nothing compared to the man beside him. When Rukia had said that she had taken on responsibility for the family, Orihime had assumed that it was because she was hiding out, not because of actual need. But the Captain walking next to Hisagi did so with the aide of a cane and even with the device his steps were not as sure and smooth as she remembered. A long scar came up the edge of his uniform, running haphazardly across his still handsome features to slice neatly through his hairline, following the line of the ornaments in his ebony locks. And yet for all their scars and injuries, the two men were alive and were Captains.

"Captain Hisagi, Captain Kuchiki," Renji said bowing to both men.

"Captain Abarai," Captain Kuchiki spoke, his voice as cool as Orihime remembered, "you were missed at the Captain's meeting."

"Yes, Captain, but Inoue and I had something to attend to."

"Something involving my sister, I see," Captain Kuchiki said looking at him.

"Its Ichigo," Orihime said, finding her voice, "he's in trouble," all three pairs of eyes went to her. Taking a deep breath, Orihime forced herself to speak, "Ichigo's in trouble,' she repeated, "and when Ichigo gets in trouble, it usually ends really badly--for everyone."

"Yeah," Renji said, "and even though Rukia's not a Shinigami anymore, she and Ichigo are--well, you know how they are with each other. I thought it'd help--"

"I am aware of my sister's connection to that--" he stopped, "to Kurosaki Ichigo," he said, looking behind him at the house before looking at the two of them, "I will speak to her."

"You will?" Orihime questioned before she could stop herself. One again all the eyes were on her, "I mean--" she began, feeling her face heat up.

"Captain Abarai, escort her to the Commander General," he said looking at Renji.

"Yes, Captain Kuchiki," Renji said,"come on," he said, putting a hand on Orihime and all but steering her out of the gardens.

"Hey--but--" Orihime began to protest.

"Just come on," Renji said, lowering his voice as they made it very quickly through the house and onto the path that followed.

"Renji why are we going so fast?" Orihime demanded as the red head steered her down the path, going as quick as her legs would let her.

"Look," Renji said stopping abruptly and turning her around, "I believe you, Inoue, really I do. But that doesn't mean everyone else is going to. You lost your powers--that sucks and its unfair--but people might think that you're doing this just to get them back."

"I wouldn't--"

"You wouldn't do that, I know," he said, his voice still low and rushed, "but that doesn't mean that everyone else thinks that way."

"But Renji, if they don't--" she held the bracelet tightly in her hand, "if they don't and if we don't get our powers back then we're not going to be able to save Ichigo. I trust Ulquiorra and Uryuu, but they can't do this alone."

"I know," Renji said, "which is why you gotta tell me how bad this really is."

"Bad," she said, "and its gonna get a lot worse if we don't do something."

"Okay," Renji said looking at her, "I'm gonna take you to the Commander General. If they tell you no, you gotta get them to release you to me, no-one else. Got it?" she nodded.

"Renji, what are you going to do?" she asked.

"Help you save the world," he said as if it was the most obvious thing, "but we might have to run, really really fast."

"Running, defying Soul Society and impossible odds to save our friend," she sighed, "well, I suppose we'll just have to learn on our feet, because, you know, we've never done any of that before."

Renji laughed at that.

"Not like this we haven't," he said.

"Like I said," Orihime said with a daring smile, "we'll just have to learn on our feet."

"Alright. Lets get you to the Commander General," he said.

Orihime nodded her agreement and together they set off down the road, back towards the heart of Soul Society.

* * *

**Is Rukia gonna join them? Are they gonna get their powers back or is Renji going to have to be his brave, dashing, stupid self? And whose the new Commander General?**

**Oh and for all those asking, YES Renji's gonna get some romantic action in this fic. I'm tired of writing him not getting any and I've already got a favorite pairing for him so, yeah, Renji's gonna get some romance here. Not right now but (fairly) soon. **

**Please PLEASE review! When you review it makes me want to update and we all know you love it when I do that. **

**So please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the delay! **

**So for this chapter, the italics are a flashback. **

**Oh and there's a bit of a description of something at the end that you should, uh, prepare yourself for. Nothing too graphic but, well, kids shouldn't be reading this anyway. **

_

* * *

_

_The water spout was going to kill him._

_The dip, the fill, the rise, the pour, rinse repeat-it was a methodical, endless cycle. And every single cycle he heard was another measure of time that he was stuck sitting in the single most boring and intimidating place in any world he had set foot in. And considering the number of worlds that Lieutenant Renji Abarai had been in, that was saying something. Kneeling on the tatami mat, Renji had nothing to do but wait. Like all rooms in the First Division, tradition ruled the wide, open space. A low desk was sitting near the wall but there wasn't a chair or a couch in sight. Just the tatami mats and the light colored walls and the white screens and the damn water spout outside. Biting the inside of his cheek, Renji fought against the urge to yawn. It wasn't like anyone would have seen him yawn, but one just didn't yawn in the First Division and if there was one thing the red haired Lieutenant had learned from his time in the Sixth Division it was how to hold back a yawn. So instead of yawning, Renji settled for tightening his fingers in the fabric of his pants and focusing intently on a spot on the wall. _

_They had to be finished deliberating soon. _

_They just had to or he was seriously going to consider going Bankai just to get out of the wildly uncomfortable situation he found himself in. The waiting was excruciatingly painful. He had never really liked to wait. Not when he was waiting to hear back from the Shinigami Academy, not when he'd taken the graduation exams, not when he'd been considered for Lieutenant. But those things at least had been things he'd wanted. He'd wanted to be a Shinigami, a Lieutenant, all of those things and the waiting was awful because he was waiting to hear if he got them. But this, this was a different and special kind of torture. Because the annoyance, the sinking feeling in his stomach, the hands that clenched white-knuckled in the fabric of his pants. All of it was done along with the silent, desperate plea that he went through his head with every beat of his heart. All of it was saying the same exact thing._

_No. _

_No he didn't want what they were considering offering him. Just like the other select few who had been summoned to the First Division to wait. One by one they had gone in and spoken to the Captains. Where they had gone next, Renji had no idea, but they didn't come back to the room he was beginning to think was the equivalent of purgatory. A part of him wanted them to finish their deliberations and make the decision-preferably a negative one-and just get it over with and the rest of him wanted them to keep debating until the answer was no. He could last longer in the room, just as long as the answer was no. If it was yes he couldn't tell them no. Not with any sort of seriousness. He had a duty, a responsibility, and if he said no then he'd be turning his back on that. And if there was one thing that Soul Society could not take it was more betrayals. The only way to get out of this was if they said 'no' and with each cycle of the water spout it seemed less and less likely that they were going to see it that way. _

_"Lieutenant Abarai?" he looked up at the pretty Shinigami who smiled even with her lip split, "they're ready for you."_

_Renji tried to talk but the words stuck in his throat. Instead he settled for pushing himself to his feet and following her towards the larger room in the First Division. He'd walked the corridor a hundred-no, a thousand-time before and yet he couldn't help but feel like he was being led to his death. He knew it was irrational to think that way and yet he found his mind couldn't go anywhere else. The Shinigami leading him was silent as she walked. Renji couldn't see an armband on her though the white covering on her shoulders revealed her to be a part of the First Division. She led him down the hallway towards the main part of the Division, the meeting room where he had been so many times before. And yet he felt like he was walking the halls for the first time. She stopped in front of the doors and Renji almost collided with her. _

_He jumped back mumbling a hasty apology as she raised her hand and knocked on the door. Without waiting for a response she pushed open the doors, allowing him to enter the room. He had been in there before, obviously, as a Lieutenant-with the other Lieutenants. But now the room was full of Captains. They stood there, in various states of healing, and if there was any remaining doubt in Renji's mind of just how dire the situation Soul Society found itself in was, it was erased as he looked at the long double line of Captains. There were missing places-far too many missing places-further evidence of Aizen's wicked wicked hand. Renji walked carefully forward, unsure of where he was to stop. Usually it was behind Byakuya, in his proper place as Lieutenant of the Sixth Division. But now he did not know where to go, all he could do was walk slowly forward and hope there would be some sign of where he was supposed to go. _

_"Lieutenant Abarai," Captain Kyoraku spoke, his voice still gravely from a healing throat, "you have proven yourself and on the recommendation of Captain Kuchiki you are to take the Captainship of the Third Division." _

_Renji's eyes widened as all the blood seemed to rush to his head. Captain? Him? The idea seemed as ludicrous to him now as it had when he was a young boy entering the gates of Soul Society for the first time. Street rats from Rukongai did not become Captains. His eyes found Byakuya easily. His Captain was leaning heavily on the cane he was forced to use and even though his features were perfectly serene, Renji could see the faint lines of tension on his temples. He could see the sweat that had begun to bead his Captain's brow. He couldn't be a Captain, he wanted to turn to Captain Kuchiki and shout that he had lost his marbles in that fight as well-but he knew it would do no good. Byakuya was serious. But changing Lieutenants now seemed ludicrous. Byakuya looked like he could barely stand straight, much less run a household and a division like he used to. Renji had become accustom to sneaking extra work to make sure his Captain got some semblance of rest. What would the next Lieutenant do? Would they know what it entailed to be Lieutenant to a member of the Nobility? _

_But as he looked at Byakuya the Captain's averted eyes rose to meet his. They were foggy with pain. The ebony haired man shouldn't have even been standing and yet he had dragged himself to the meeting to speak in support of his Lieutenant-his former Lieutenant. Whether Renji thought he was ready or not, the people gathered there believed that he was. And so, in what very well could be his last act of servitude to the Sixth Division and its Captain, Renji managed to get his throat to work as his eyes went back to Captain Kyoraku. _

_"I accept," he said quickly. _

_Somehow the rest of the ceremony went by quickly and with little fuss. He found himself all but shoved into a white haori and ushered into his position in the line as a Captain. It was all so surreal and strange that it wasn't until they were done with the ceremony and he was halfway to his new Division that he realized being a Captain meant that he was stuck in Soul Society. He wouldn't be going out on missions. He wouldn't be able to go and find the others and try to figure out what had happened to them. He was a Captain and he was officially screwed, locked into Soul Society as effectively as if he was a prisoner. _

_"Captain Abarai?"_

"Captain Abarai?"

Renji was pulled out of his musings by the appearance of the same pretty Shingami. The wound had become a scar but she still smiled at him in the peculiar way that only the First Division members ever seemed to master. Surprised that he had spaced out, Renji looked around at the empty room, his mind flashing back. They had taken Inoue to speak to the oldest Captains. Even within the Captaincy there was a hierarchy and Renji was on the lowest rung. He had been told to wait and wait he had, though judging from the slats of sun that slipped through the screen doors there hadn't been a lot of time between when they had taken her and when the Shinigami in front of him had come out. if she thought it was strange that he had spaced out, she didn't let it show. He offered a weak smile up at her.

"Are they done yet?"

"I was asked to get you," she said, "if you'll follow me?"

Renji got to his feet with a quick bob of his head and followed her as she led him down the hallway. Glimmers of the new Commander General were all over the place, though the decorum still held glimmers of the legacy of the first. But there were whispers of color in the flowers that spilled over the edges of worked silver bowls lining the wall and the fact that certain screens were no longer plain. If anything the little touches made the corridor welcoming and Renji was certain that was something he'd never get used to. The First Division was not supposed to be welcoming. He followed the Shinigami down the hallway to where the familiar double doors stood. Those, at least, remained foreboding. The shinigami raised her hand and rapped three times.

The doors swung silently open, revealing the meeting hall. In the months since he had become a Captain Renji had been in the Hall countless times-and countless times he had been in it before as a Lieutenant. And yet the grandeur of the place never ceased to amaze him. At the moment it was deserted save for the young sunset haired woman standing there and the Commander General who stood before her. Both turned to face him as he entered, but while relief filled Orihime's grey eyes, Captain Kyoraku's face remained decidedly unreadable. Oh it was open and friendly-as his face tended to be-but Renji had come to understand that that was blank for the dark haired Captain. The smile would tell him nothing about what the Captain was thinking or feeling. In some ways the smile was more unsettling than the blank look that his former Captain had worn.

"Commander General," he said, bowing to the Captain.

"Captain Abarai," Captain Kyoraku addressed him, his tone holding the edge of formality that he had adopted since succeeding his teacher as Commander General, "I understand Kurosaki is once again in trouble."

Renji nodded.

"If this was anyone else, I would lock you up," the Commander General said, "but given that this is Ichigo Kurosaki, I cannot," he sighed and looked at the robe of the haori he wore before fixing them both with his gaze, "escort Inoue to the Fourth Division, members of the Twelfth will meet you there," he paused, "Captain Abarai. you will supervise what happens from this point on. Any misuse of power, any Armageddon-I am holding you personally responsible."

Renji nodded again, not managing to force words past the hand that seemed to have closed over his throat. He was responsible for them, for a party that he knew included a woman who defied everything, a would-be traitor with a secret illegal door to Soul Society, a one handed Quincy and an Arrancar who, by all accounts, should be dead. And that was just what he knew of. Knowing the group as well as he did, he was painfully aware that that was probably just the tip of the iceberg. That however bad things were by the end of it they would be much _much_ worse. And yet he still found himself agreeing to it.

"Thank you Commander," he said, grabbing Inoue's arm and all but dragging her out of there before the man could change his mind.

"Renji-Renji-" Orihime let him lead her out into the hallway before she ripped her arm free, "Renji are you sure you want to do this?" she asked, her eyes searching his face, "you know how things get around us."

"Yeah," Renji said, looking at the closed doors, "but if we don't do this things'll get a lot worse," he looked back at her, "its Ichigo, remember?"

"I know," Orihime said with a nod, "but you-you just agreed to be responsible for what happens."

"You let me worry about that," he said, "you just focus on-" he stopped, shaking his head, "whatever's going to happen to you."

Orihime swallowed thickly. That was right, they were going to do something to her. She remembered them ripping their powers away, how it felt like her soul had been torn in two and hastily stitched back together. Even now she could feel the hollow, ruined space where her powers had once been. Even now she knew that she was not complete. But the agony of them taking away her powers had been so terrible-what would it feel like to have them restored. They had told her there would be members from the Twelfth and the Fourth, which could only mean they knew a way to get them back and that it was probably going to cause her a lot of pain. Fear curled through her and, on pure instinct, she stuck her hand in her pocket and wrapped her hand around the bracelet.

But she could not bring herself to put it on.

She felt dazed as Renji ushered her to the Fourth Division, They did not use _Shunpo_, but for as fast as it went they could have. Orihime felt dizzy as they stepped into the Division. The smell of herbs that reached her nose was no longer comforting, it made her feel sick. The last time she had smelled the herbs, she had been stripped of her powers and thrown back to the transient world like a used toy. Two healers met them at the doors and led them wordlessly down the hall towards a room. Renji followed her until they found themselves in the room.

"Please change," one of the healers said, motioning to the gurney where something presumably lay.

Orihime twisted to look at him.

"Renji-" she began, "if this doesn't work you still have to help them find Ichigo."

"Its going to work," Renji said, "don't worry-"

"No," Orihime reached out and grabbed his wrist. His eyes looked at her hand, fingers digging into his arm, "promise me," she blurted out, her grey eyes searching his face, "promise no matter what happens you'll make sure they're alright. That they find Ichigo-that the world doesn't have to go through that again. However bad Aizen was, Ichigo'll be worse-you _know_ he'll be worse."

"I promise," Renji said quickly.

Orihime nodded, her fingers releasing him. As if she had reacted in a way that was bad, she stepped back, her fingers brushing over the fabric of her shirt as she looked to the side. Renji muttered something before slipping out of the room. Orhime slowly walked over to the gurney. Folded neatly on top of the pristine sheets was a short robe that would cover her but leave everything from the top of her breasts up bare. Slowly she undid the buttons of her shirt, shedding her clothing, folding it and placing it on the chair nearby before she wrapped the robe around herself. Her fingers paused as she felt the weight of the bracelet, hidden inside her clothing. Ulquiorra would have told her to slip it on, to hide and wait for him.

But she couldn't do that.

She had to see this through.

Placing the clothing down, she walked over to the gurney. Carefully Orihime seated herself on the surface before moving her body into a prone position. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to focus on the softness of the sheets, on the gentle smell of herbs, on anything else as the door opened and members from the Divisions came in. Careful hands drew the sheets up around her body as two others attached monitors to her chest. Yet another pair of hands reached up and brushed her hair back, lifting her head and tucking her locks into a sterile cap. Orihime tried to focus on the sensations, keeping her eyes shut as she heard the tell tale squeak of monitors being rolled in. She had to do this. She needed her powers. She could not be useless, not in this fight. Not when they had to save Ichigo. They had to save the boy who had once saved them all. She had to be able to help.

Focusing only on that, she laid still as two monitors were gently applied to her temples. She managed to keep her pulse and breathing steady throughout it all. All until someone placed something at her mouth. Automatically she opened her mouth, parting her lips to accept what turned out to be a mouthpiece. Stubbornly she clung to serenity, even as the oddly bitter taste of plastic touched her tongue. It was not until the world started to go foggy that she realized the bitterness was from herbs. Her muscles felt relaxed, more like jelly than muscles. She doubted she could have fought if she wanted to as something warm and firm slipped around her wrists and ankles, pinning them to the bed and effectively rendering her immobile. Her mind was a million miles away, carried by the herbs. She barely even felt the sting of the needle in the crook of her arm as she sagged further against the gurney, the pull of sleep threatening her mind.

And then everything she was exploded.

No, an explosion was the wrong word. Explosions were fast. This was a slow burn, this was agony that raced across ever facet of what she was. She had heard her power compared to the sun, with is golden glow, but now it was as if someone had taken the sun and plunged it into her chest. Every agonizing throb of her heart, every heave of her chest, all of it pushed the agony further into her veins. Her teeth bit into the mouthguard as her body bucked wildly in the restraints. She could have screamed curses or prayers or just agony and not known it. All she knew was the impossible burning of the power that filled her-power that had once been hers. Power that was going to kill her.

And then, like someone had flipped a switch, the entire world went blissfully blank.

* * *

**Okay so nothing too traumatizing I hope? **

**So next time did she get her powers? Is she okay? Are they going to leave Soul Society? Tune in and find out!**

**Make it happen faster by reviewing! **

**(you know you want to, and if you don't, if you want updates you should...)**

**So please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

As he did every night, Renji Abarai walked up the stone path to the Kuchiki Manor.

Orihime was resting after her ordeal and would not wake until the morning, when the Fourth Division said that they would know if the procedure had been successful. From the short time he had with Orihime, it seemed like she needed all the rest she could get. He knew that the procedure was a difficult one, however from the way she looked, he doubted that he had any idea how hard it was for her. But she had survived-not that he was surprised. They were a tough lot, for all their mortality.

Even a former street rat like him could appreciate, in some way, the beauty of the Kuchiki Manor at night. Lamps cast a gentle glow across the path leading up to the flowers that lined the pathway were impeccable and in the warm summer night their perfume was heavy in the air. The entire scene was, as always, perfectly picturesque and as always, Renji wondered what the hell he was doing there. Sadly, though, he knew perfectly well what the hell he was doing there and even if he wished that he could be anywhere else, he knew that this had to be done. Like clockwork by the time he got to the top of the pathway Kazuki was waiting for him.

"Good evening Captain Abarai," Kazuki said, his tone as formal as ever.

"Hey," Renji s fighting the urge to slouch, "is she-"

"Lady Kuchiki is not receiving visitors," Kazuki said.

Renji barely managed to resist the urge to hit his head into his forehead. They both knew how this was going to go-pretty much the same way it went every time he wanted to speak to Rukia. The servant would turn him down, he would argue until they went to speak to Rukia or Byakuya and eventually they would let him in with a look that clearly said they did not agree with him being permitted inside. Normally Renji manage to keep his patience throughout the awful affair but between the news that Ichigo had been kidnapped, seeing Orihime again, finding out that she was _in_ a relationship with Ulquiorra and realizing just how terribly the shit had hit the fan-his patience was wearing exceptionally thin. He needed to speak to Rukia, now.

"Look, I need to talk to her," Renji said, "and I know you're going to tell me no. But she's making a huge mistake and I need to talk to her. So we can just get past this whole you can't see her that would be great."

"Captain Abarai," Kazuki said, "Lord Kuchiki has asked me to escort you to his sister."

He stared at the servant who returned his shocked look with a look that gave nothing away on his personal feelings on the matter. It was rare that Byakuya stepped in. Rukia had shouldered most of the burden of the day to day task of running the household, but Byakuya was still the head of the family and his word could still trump anyone elses, including Rukias. Without a word, Kazuki turned around and walked into the manor. Renji followed him down the hallway to a set of doors. He knew enough to stand back as Kazuki went first and addressed Rukia.

"A thousand pardons, Lady Kuchiki, but Captain Abarai is here."

He stepped aside to allow Renji entry into the room. Renji stepped into the room. By the time he entered Rukia was as perfectly composed as ever. The pink kimono she had worn before had been changed for one of a soft violet shade, embroidered in rich orange and gold thread. Her dark hair was pulled back and secured with a comb decorated by three bright gold flowers which shimmered in the light. As always, Rukia looked as though she had stepped out of a painting and as always Renji wondered if the real Rukia had been left behind in Las Noches.

"Hey," Renji said stepping into the room.

"Good evening," Rukia said, her tone soft and formal.

As always silence stretched between them, tense and awkward as ever. This silence was different. Back when she had been adopted as a Kuchiki the space between them had been filled with unspoken things. His feelings, her feelings, the abandonment and the pain they felt when it came to the man who had taken her away. That space now seemed to pale in comparison to the distance between them now. Now it was not that there were words both were afraid to say, feelings they were afraid to express.

There was just, well, nothing.

Not anymore. Nothing but the sharp pain of knowing they had both been pulled to a side that neither was certain they belonged to anymore. Once more they had been separated from what they knew, from what they cared about, from everything. All by their love for the same man who had taken Rukia far away once. Before Renji knew they had both wished that somehow they would close the gap between them. But now he knew that it was just too painful. When he looked at Rukia he no longer saw the friend he had since childhood, he saw another reminder of the people who they had been separated from.

Uncomfortably Renji cleared his throat, but his voice was still gruff when he spoke.

"So, uh, Unohana says that the procedure was probably successful and that Orihime will be getting her powers back soon," he said, "she's out right now but she'll be fine," he continued, stumbling over the words, "then she'll, uh, you know."

As he spoke, his eyes scanned Rukia's composed features, looking for some kind of reaction. But the girl's features were as serene and immobile as a the face of a china doll. It was surreal to see Rukia so closed off, especially when it came to the one person that Renji had thought would shake her out of the way she had been it seemed that even news of Ichigo was incapable of performing such a thing. Rukia listened but if she felt anything towards what was going on, she did not show it. Even the faint glimmer of emotion he'd seen in the gardens seemed like he had imagined it.

"I'm going with her," he said finally.

The slight narrowing of Rukai's eyes was all the emotion she showed at the news, as if she had half expected him to say it and did not agree with the decision he was making.

"What about your Division?" she asked, her voice perfectly calm.

"What about them?" Renji asked, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

"Surely you are not just going to leave them-"

"Thats exactly what I'm going to do," he cut her off, "because I know whoever's got their claws in Ichigo's going to fuck everything up-" he began.

"-so soon after what has happened-" she continued, as if he had not spoken.

"-and whatever I do out there is a lot better than me sitting on my ass here-"

"-leaving everything that has been built back to go to a world in which we do not belong-"

"Damn it Rukia!" Renji shouted, his hand slamming onto the table, both actions cutting off her words, "stop being such a fucking coward."

Rukia glared at him, her violet eyes burning but Renji returned her glare, refusing to back down. He hadn't yelled at Rukia since she began to withdraw and for the first time he realized that maybe it was too late. Maybe she was that far gone that she wasn't going to help them get Ichigo back, even though they both knew that the young man had probably tried everything to get back to her. So why was it so fucking one sided? Why was Rukia refusing to consider being a part of the rescue? Renji refused to tear his eyes away from her. There had to be a reason-there had to be something that would make sense.

She looked away first.

"You should go," Rukia said, getting to her feet.

"Huh?" Renji struggled to his own with far less grace as the petite woman turned her back to him, "Rukia-" his hand brushed her sleeve.

She slapped his hand away, turning to face him.

"Don't you get it?" she demanded, her eyes bright, "its over Renji. We're _dead_, they aren't. We have no business being a part of that world."

"Have you gone nuts?" Renji demanded, his voice hoarse, "can you hear what you're saying? Its Ichigo-"

"Yes," Rukia said, a smile that was far more sneer twisting her pretty features, "its Ichigo."

Renji felt like an idiot, or like he had missed something very big. For Rukia to flat out consider helping their friends, even after everything that had happened, it was as close to nuts as he had ever seen anyone get. But he could see she was serious. She was going to let them walk out of there and go on a rescue mission while she stayed locked up in the Kuchiki Manor.

"I don't get it," he said, "after everything we've been through together, after everything we've done you're just going to let him be kidnapped? Tortured? Why?"

For one ridiculously hopeful moment, Renji thought she would tell him the truth. That suddenly everything would make sense with the explanation she would give. But the optimism he felt was banished as quickly as it crept up when Rukia pressed her lips together and walked out of the room all together. Renji stared at her retreating form for a moment before he shook himself into action and walked after her. It took his considerably longer legs moments to eclipse the distance between them.

"Go away Renji," she said, her voice sharp.

"No," he said, stepping in front of her, "not until you tell me why."

She glared daggers at him but Renji refused to move, using his larger size and still-honed skills to his advantage. If she had truly wanted to, he knew Rukia could have gotten past him. But it was a big house, with many corridors and Rukia simply turned on her heel and walked off in the other direction. Swearing under his breath, Renji followed her. Rukia walked out of the house into the gardens, obviously expecting Renji to stay behind. But the Captain followed her out into the night air, refusing to let her out of his sight.

"Rukia-"

"How many times have you seen Ichigo pull off the impossible?" Rukia asked, abruptly turning around and facing him, "how many times?" she repeated, "when it was impossible, when no-one thought, in their wildest dreams that it could be done, how many times did you see him do it?"

"A lot," Renji said, not liking where this was going, "so why-"

"Don't you think that he would have found a way back to us?" Rukia demanded, "after things ended, if he-" she stopped, taking a deep breath before continuing on, "he 's been there, this whole time. He doesn't care anymore, why should we?"

Renji stared at the woman, his mind full of blank denial. He could not understand what she was saying, how her mind could jump to such a conclusion. But there was no hint of humor on her softly painted mouth, no glint of amusement in her carefully lined eyes. She was serious, she seriously believed that they had been abandoned, that they had been left by the person they both trusted.

"Have you lost your damn mind?" Renji demanded, not bothering to keep his voice low, "can you hear yourself through all that face paint? Ichigo didn't betray _anyone_, least of all us!"

"How do you know that?" Rukia demanded, her voice rising to meet his, "how the hell can you know that? Why should we care about someone whose probably spent this whole time fucking Orihime and forgotten all about us?"

Renji's eyes widened, any retorts he had dying on his lips as he stared down at Rukia's form. She was serious, she was actually serious and suddenly every doubt that Renji had went flying out the window. He couldn't believe what she was saying, how much she believed the ugly words that came out of her mouth. She really thought that Ichigo had betrayed all of them to spend his time-Renji stopped himself. What Ichigo did and didn't do with his time was his own business.

And yet, as much as he hated to admit it, she did have a point.

Ichigo had done the impossible more times than he could count. And yet they hadn't heard anything from him since that day when they had been separated. Furiously Renji ran a hand along the side of his head, feeling the raised skin from the scars that maimed him. He looked at Rukia and then away from her, casting his eyes about the garden as though there was _something_ there that would tell him how to make sense of this mess. Lowering his hand he looked back at Rukia.

"How long have you felt like this?" he asked.

"Don't," Rukia said, her voice low and angry and dangerously close to breaking.

"But-" Rukia turned around, "damn it Rukia!" Renji moved after her but she had already led him to the house, right in front of the servant.

"My brother's orders were for me to see Captain Abarai," Rukia said, her voice low but steady, "I have fulfilled my duties. Show Captain Abarai out."

"No, Rukia-" Renji began but the young woman had sidestepped him and moved past the servant into the depths of the house. Renji looked at her leaving with a sinking heart before he looked at the stone faced servant.

"If you'll follow me, Captain Abarai-"

"I know my way out," Renji said, turning around and walking back, "about the only damn thing I know here."

"All the same, Captain Abari, my instructions were clear," he said, moving in front of Renji and leading him down a stone path to the gates of the garden.

Renji stepped out into the path leading back to Soul Society. He turned around just as the servant turned around, leaving the guards to close the gate with a soft sound that echoed in Renji's ears none the less. Frustrated beyond belief, Renji turned around and began to walk back to Soul Society, foregoing _Shunpo_ and prolonging the time it would take to return. How the hell Rukia had managed to plant that seed of doubt in the back of his mind, he'd never know. Or why his twisted head immediately went to where she wanted it. He knew that leaving was what had to be done, that if someone had Ichigo then they were going to use him to destroy the world, just as he had to believe that Ichigo would have come for them, if there had been a way.

So why hadn't he?

Clenching his fists, Renji continued down the path, fighting to lay the doubts he had to rest. He had known that Ichigo was going to be, well, something since he'd first fought the guy all those years ago and Ichigo had refused to go down. Bleeding out, dying at Byakuya's feet and the guy had still pulled himself forward on what had to be adrenaline and defiance. Rukia was right, ever since then he had seen the orange haired man defy and fight and do things that no-one else would even attempt. The rational part of him said that it was impossible for Ichigo to have gotten to them, but the doubt gnawing at him said that Ichigo would have found a way, if he really wanted too.

Exhaling, Renji frowned as he saw his breath fog in the air. Looking over his shoulder he realized that he was at the entrance to the cave that Hitsugaya had adopted as his training ground, far enough away from Soul Society that his impressive Spirit Power did not affect others. Here he could train all out and Renji knew that was how the young Captain dealt with the anger that coursed through his veins. Changing the direction of his feet, he walked towards the entrance to the cave, making sure not to put his hands anywhere near his Zanpakuto.

Ice spread across the stone of the cave, turning the already rough surface into a patchwork of sharp angles and jutting peaks. He could feel the cold even more and the force of Hitsugaya's Bankai, Fighting back the nausea, Renji stepped forward, bring his own spirit power. He heard the crash of ice hitting stone and made his way further into the cave. The sound ceased long before he made his way to where Hitsugaya stood, his back to him.

The young Captain was shirtless, his captain's robe and uniform top cast off to the side. The pants that he wore were short for him, coming close to showing the tops of his tabi. He was going through his latest growth spurt, the height adding to his formerly lean frame. Endless hours of training had added a significant amount of muscle to the Captain's body, making him seem far older than he was. His eyes had hardened as well, erasing any last glimpse of youth on the young Captain's face. He looked old, older than he was and for all that he used to strive to be older, Renji knew this aging wasn't of his choosing.

"Hey," Renji said in greeting, which was not returned.

"Did the Commander send you?" Hitsugaya asked, finally turning to face him.

Renji cringed at the bruise that darkened the skin around the young Captain's eye and blossomed along the right side of his rib cage. Hitsugaya had started sparring with the Eleventh Division, trading his bladed weapon for a wooden one and, though no-one would say it, his emotional pain for physical. The bruises were fresh but old enough to have darkened and molted his skin. It was not surprising that Hitsugaya had refuse to go to the fourth division-nor that the eleventh hadn't insisted-short of being knocked unconscious or loosing a limb, Hitsugaya refused to go near that place.

"No," Renji said finally, "I was with Rukia."

Hitsugaya said nothing but Renji had a feeling he knew better than most what it was like to see someone change beyond recognition after the War. Hitsugaya had changed as well. He did not level his sword at Renji or make a movement to resume his practice. Not that Renji was surprised. Hitusgaya had not fought someone with his spiritual power since the war, sparring only with a wooden sword, though none would say that his power with Hyorinmaru had dulled.

"You lasted longer this time," Hitsugaya said, his voice not giving away any of his own feelings on the matter.

"Yeah," Renji said, "for all the good it did. Still got thrown out," he shrugged.

"You're going back with Orihime," Hitsugaya said, his voice monotone as he glanced at Renji who nodded.

"Yeah," Renji said again, "Rukia thinks that Ichigo abandoned us," he said finally.

"Do you believe that?" the Captain asked.

"No. Yes," Renji exhaled, "I don't know. I guess it doesn't matter. Even if he did, he's still got to be rescued," he shook his head, "its not like we can control what other people decide."

Hitsugaya looked at him sharply and Renji felt the temperature drop a few degrees as his words hit dangerously close to a nerve. But the drop only lasted a moment before the room warmed up. Renji looked at the younger Captain silently before Hitsugaya turned around, looking away from him.

"It was supposed to be better," he said finally, "we fought so that it would be better when Aizen was gone."

"Yeah," Renji agreed darkly, "I remember that too," he shook his head, "we were idiots to believe it."

"Yes," Hitsguaya agreed, "we were."

Renji departed the cave without a word when the silence got too thick. Hitsugaya did not do goodbyes anymore, no more than he fought his friends for practice. Continuing along the path, Renji shook his head. It would be nice to get out of Soul Society for a while, especially after everything that had happened there. Or, rather, everything that _hadn't_ happened. Everything that was still broken, still hurt, still wrong. That wasn't what they had fought for, what they had lost everything for.

Maybe Rukia and Hinamori had been the smart ones to leave.

The rest of them sure as hell hadn't been, staying behind to keep up the charade that the war hadn't cost them everything. Trying to rebuild something that had been shattered so completely that even though the pieces more or less fit back together, there were too many cracks for it ever to be whole again.

Dark thoughts churning in his head, Renji did not even realize when he arrived at the gates of Soul Society. Nodding to the giants, he made his way into the pristine Court. Stopping just inside the gate, he looked around. It was early yet, people still milling about. If he continued on foot he was going to be stopped and for the life of him Renji didn't think he could handle polite conversation at the moment.

Throwing himself into _Shunpo_ Renji closed the distance between himself and the Fourth Division, stopping outside the pristine doors of the Division. Stepping inside he made his way down the hall to where Orihime was brought. The door was closed and so Renji reached out and knocked on it, wondering if Orihime was conscious.

"Come in," her voice called.

Renji opened the door, casting his eyes around before they landed on the woman standing by the window. Unohana had said that the procedure was a success, but Renji was surprised at the sight of the young woman none the less. He could feel the odd power that flowed through her, something he had not realized that he had missed since her return. If Hitsugaya's power was ice, then Orihime's was spring. It was gentle and warm and the swelled with the promise of what was possible.

Slowly she turned around, looking at him. The white robes of the fourth division patient were snug on her form, her orange hair bright against the pale color. Her grey eyes almost seemed to glow with the power that flowed through her veins now, but Renji knew it could have just been in his imagination. The small smile that played on her lips got wider, but it did not loose its peaceful side.

"Unohana says I'm all set," Orihime said, "are you ready to go?"

Renji glanced behind him, half expecting to see Rukia standing behind him, ready to go and join into the fight. But the hallway remained empty, save for the few Fourth Division members who moved quietly through the halls checking on patients. Letting out a breath of disappointment, Renji turned and looked at Orihime.

"Yeah," he said, "lets get out of here."

* * *

**Please note: Verona is coming down on 10/30 for edits and reworking. **


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